29
The Growth
of Unity
(How To
Build A Church – Part II)
(Eph.
4:12-16)
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
In the
last chapter we examined the Gifts for unity in verses 7-11. We now turn
to the Growth of unity in verses 14-16. In doing so, we also continue to
examine God’s four-fold method for building and growing a Church:
·
The
Foundation of Building — Leadership (vs. 7-11)
·
The
Approach to Building — Discipleship (v. 12)
·
The
Purpose of Building — Maturity (vs. 13-14)
·
The
Material for Building — Truth (vs. 15-16)
II. The Approach to
Building — Discipleship (v. 12)
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
“Discipleship”
is a term we hear used often these days but one that few people define. What
exactly does “discipleship” or “discipling” mean? The clearest text about this
is Matt 28:19-20:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
The word “teaching” in verse 20 is the familiar Greek word didaskō, which speaks of systematic teaching. The word “teach” in verse 19, however, is mathēteuō, which “means not only to learn, but to become attached to one’s teacher and to become his follower in doctrine and conduct of life.”[1] It’s stronger than the similar word manthanō (Matt. 11:29; I Tim. 5:4; II Tim. 3:14; etc), which means simply to learn without any attachment to the teacher. Mathēteuō appears, for example, in Acts 14:21 in reference to Paul’s ministry in Derbe: “And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch.” This shows that evangelism is more than just preaching the Gospel; it is “making disciples,” that is, making followers of Christ who are attached to Him and so obey him in doctrine and conduct. Much “evangelism” today is just getting someone to repeat a prayer or “make a profession,” but Biblical evangelism is making committed followers of Christ. One writer describes a disciple of Christ as “one who 1. believes His doctrine, 2. rests on His sacrifice, 3. imbibes His spirit, and 4. imitates His example.”[2]
So, while Paul doesn’t use the word mathēteuō in our text, he most certainly
outlines what is involved in making disciples. He gives us three principles of
discipleship: equipping, serving, and building, each of which builds on the
others.
Equipping
The word perfecting
translates katartismos, which is used only here in the New Testament.
The root artismos comes from the related word artios, which is
where we get our English word “artist” and which means suitable, complete,
capable, sound. So, with the intensifying prefix kata (“according to”)
the meaning of katartismos is very instructive: “to put in order,
restore, furnish, prepare, equip.”[3] In ancient Greek the verb form (katartizō) was used in a medical sense to
refer to setting a broken limb or putting a
joint back into its place. It was also used in politics for bringing together
opposing factions so that government could continue.[4] A
New Testament example of the verb, which appears thirteen times, is in
reference to repairing fishing nets (Matt. 4:21; Mk. 1:19).
So, it was the responsibility of the Apostle and prophet, and it is today the responsibility of the evangelist and pastor-teacher, to put in order, restore, furnish, prepare, and equip the saints. As we discovered way back in 1:2, Paul refers to believers as saints nine times in Ephesians (1:1, 15, 18; 2:19; 3:8, 18: 4:12; 5:3; 6:18), and in each instance it refers to all Christians, not some special group that have been canonized by the Church. Every Christian, every individual who has trusted Christ as Saviour is a saint because he has been “set apart” (hagios) from sin and unto God. Paul now tells us that it is, therefore, the responsibility of the Church leadership to equip these saints.
In many
Christian circles this has been totally turned around. Many today believe, “The
pastor’s job is to ‘win souls’ and build the church; he should spend most of
his time calling on people and knocking on doors.” But this is not the New
Testament precedent. Many go to the phrase “house to house” (Acts 2:46; 20:20)
to teach this. But in each case the context makes it clear that the teaching of
believers is in view.
The New
Testament makes it clear that the pastor’s duty is to train believers who then
go out as the outreach. The shepherd/sheep analogy makes this obvious. The
Shepherd feeds and nurtures the sheep so that they are healthy and capable of
reproducing. We will come back to this in a moment, but may we put the matter
simply: the pastor’s first concern is to be for the occupied seats, not the
empty ones.
To go one
step deeper, we see that all the meanings of katartismos are to be
performed by the evangelist (Church planter) and pastor-teacher. First, they are
“to put in order,” to organize God’s work according to Biblical guidelines.
Second, they “restore,” set things right when they are out of sorts and take
care of problems. Third, they “furnish, prepare, and equip” by giving believers
the tools to do the job that lies ahead.
How does a
pastor go about all this? There can be only one answer: all this is done by the
teaching of the Word of God. Many today are trying to do it through programs,
promotional gimmicks, and marketing strategies. But a truth we need to realize
is that when God’s people fail in service, it is not because of weak programs,
but because of weak teaching.
An incident that occurred during the Arab–Israeli war of 1967 serves to illustrate this principle. While flying over the Sinai Desert, an American reporter and an Israeli officer spotted some 50,000 stranded Egyptian soldiers who obviously were dying of thirst. They reported their sighting, but each time a plan to aid the stranded soldiers was recommended, some military, diplomatic, or bureaucratic barrier prevented its implementation. By the time help arrived, it was too late for thousands of the soldiers.[5]
That is the situation in the Church today. All kinds of programs, committees, focus groups, and other suggestions for “reaching out” are made, when what is really needed is simply the water of the Word of God. While many today think that the Church should be addressing “felt needs,” the real need is God’s Truth.
Serving
The second
thing involved in discipleship is service. This is the second step in
the progression: The evangelist and pastor-teacher are to give Christians the
tools with which they can do the work of the ministry, so they can serve God. Work is ergon,
which means the result or object of employment, something to be done; so what
these men are called to do is train God’s people for carrying on the task of ministry.
This,
however, brings up a question that is not asked often enough: “What exactly is
the work of the ministry? What is service?” We hear a lot about ministry
and “service” these days, but let us get to the heart of what it is. Consider
first I Corinthians 12:5, which literally says, “There are varieties of
ministries, but one Lord.” The word ministry is the Greek diakonia
which speaks of labor and service and originally spoke of serving tables. It is
similar, of course, to diakonos from which is derived the word “deacon.”
So, as there are many members of the body (as the context clearly shows), all
members, therefore, serve the body.
May we
also consider Acts 1:8, which is truly the most vital verse to church outreach,
the verse which speaks of the commission given to every believer: “But ye shall
receive power, after [i.e. when] the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall
be witnesses unto me.” This truly is “the great commission.” It is tragic that
many missionary speakers misuse Matthew 28:19-20 (“Go ye therefore. . .”). Many
erroneously preach a whole sermon that this is God’s command and pressure young
people to become missionaries. But the verb tense and mood used here do not
show a command. The tense here is an Aorist Participle and would be better
translated, “having gone.” This is not a command, rather a statement of what
has already taken place. In other words, God is not commanding any of us to go;
He is saying that we are already there! It’s not that we should each “go
to the mission field,” rather that we are already in the field. This is exactly
what we see in Acts 1:8; we are already witnesses, already on the “mission
field.” Yes, God calls certain people to go certain fields, but each of us are
already on a field no matter were we are. We note again the word “teaching” (v.
20), “make disciples of.” This is far more than what is true in many of the
so-called “soul-winning techniques” of today. Making a disciple is more than
bringing someone to the Lord; it also involves helping them get started in
Christian growth. The best way to do this is to help them find a local church
in which they can be fed the Word of God.
So
bringing all this together, ministry means service and service means
witnessing. The true essence of service is being a witness for Christ.
This is the responsibility of every Christian. The local church is not
responsible for “programs of evangelism” or “evangelistic campaigns.” All this
is a total turn-around from the New Testament. Individual believers are to be
the outreach!
To
illustrate, we see today multi-million dollar public schools with huge
gymnasiums, Olympic swimming pools, state of the art science labs, cutting edge
computer technology, and ultra-competitive athletic programs. Billions of
dollars are thrown at public education, but study after study shows that the
quality of education continues to decline. Why? Because we have forgotten what
education is. As one unknown sage has put it: “a school is a log with a teacher
on one end and a student on the other.”
Likewise,
is evangelism built on a multi-million dollar facility, the latest marketing
technique, or some spiel we recite to manipulate someone to “believe in Jesus?”
No, Biblical evangelism is one person telling another person about the only
Person. True evangelism (euangellion) is telling people through our lips
and life about the Lord Jesus Christ.
What then
is the purpose of the local church? The local church is the training ground.
This principle is one I have emphasized over and over to the folks in the
church I pastor. The local church is where Christians are to be trained so they
are equipped to serve, to be successful witnesses. There are pastors who
emphasize witnessing, but the problem is they do not train God’s people
adequately. They do not preach Scriptural depth that will properly equip.
With all
this in mind, may we see that any “ministry” must point to the one true essence
of Christian service—witnessing. We also add here that as we’ll see
later in this study, a “ministry” must meet another requirement—it must be
based in and through a local church.
Building
The third
thing involved in discipleship is building, which in turn completes the
progression. Proper equipping by the evangelist and pastor-teacher provides
believers with the tools to serve God, which then results in the edifying
(building up) of the body of Christ. The Greek for edifying is oikodome,
which refers literally to the building of a house. There are two things in view
in this building process.
First, this equipping and serving builds
the body internally. This was, in fact, the very point Paul made in his
farewell message to the Ephesian elders in Miletus: “And now, brethren, I
commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you
up” (Acts 20:32). Paul gave this challenging counsel because it is only the
Word of God that can make the body strong internally. How tragic that many
today strive for a big church externally before the church is strong internally.
Internal growth must always come first or the work will eventually collapse of
its own weight. Without a good foundation, any building will fall.
Second, this equipping and serving builds
the body externally. We should not over-emphasize this lest we fall into
the trap of the “numbers game,” which is so prevalent today. But neither should
we under-emphasize this lest we fall into the trap of isolation and eventual
stagnation. What then is the balance? As Christians are given the tools for
service, others are going to be brought to Christ as a result. To further
explain, we do not produce results; rather we expect results through the Holy
Spirit. We can put this another way: we do not rely on results to measure success,
rather we rejoice in the results God gives. Many today gauge the success of
their church by results of their ministry philosophy (e.g., “seeker
sensitivity”), by the outcome of some campaign, or by comparison with totals
from previous years. How humanistic! God never said he would bless us according
to results; He said He would bless us according to faithfulness.
Our Lord
didn’t leave church growth to our devices, rather He said, “I will build my
church” (Matt. 16:18). Yes, we will plant, we will water, but He will give the
increase (I Cor. 3:6-7). We are to preach the Word and be witnesses of Christ,
and God will give the increase according to His sovereign will. Human reason
wants to build the church like a corporation and run it like a business. That’s
not God’s way, because His Church is a Body; it will grow as we feed it Truth.
May we
reiterate the three things involved in edification: equipping, serving, and
building. Proper equipping by the evangelist (church planter) and
pastor-teacher gives believers the tools to serve God, which results in the
building up of the body of Christ both internally and externally.
III. The Purpose of
Building — Maturity (vs. 13-14)
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
When a
builder starts constructing a house, his goal is to get it completed, to have a
finished product. Likewise, the purpose of building Christians is a finished
product. That doesn’t mean literal perfection, that without error—no house is
perfect—but it does mean complete in the sense of maturity. There will
always be maintenance, but the basic structure is sound, solid, and secure.
As we’ll
see in detail, in this context the word perfect means “a complete mature adult.”
What, then, does spiritual maturity involve? What constitutes a mature
Christian? Paul provides us with three characteristics of spiritual maturity:
unity, knowledge, and discernment.
The Unity Of The Faith
(v. 13a)
Till we all come in the unity of the faith,
We cannot
help but believe that the order in which these characteristics are listed is
significant. Since unity is the subject of the entire context (vs.
1-16), it is, therefore, listed first. But unity of what?—unity of the
faith. We studied “one faith” back in verse 5. The word faith is not
used there, or here, as a verb but a noun and pictures “a system of truth.”
More specifically, “the faith” and “one faith” refer to “the body of revealed
truth which makes us Historical, Evangelical Christianity” (Jude 3). So, this
tells us that God’s truth is unified; it is not fragmented or divided; it is
one complete system. Moreover, since this is listed first, God wants this to be
the number one concern of the Church; our
concern must be the unity of the Body around the unity of the faith.
The
application of all this is clear. Unity among God’s people is the number one
goal of edification, the number one goal of the building process. We are told
by some Christian leaders that the number one goal is to “get big,” to add more
people to the membership. But what good is a big body if it is not unified?
Indeed, we want to see the body get larger, and it will do that as we are
faithful, but the first goal is to see the existing body in a constant state of
unity. Why do we build up one another? So there will be unity and sweet
fellowship among all members of Christ’s body. How do we go about this? By
practicing the three principles we examined in verse 12: equipping, serving,
and building. This leads to the second characteristic of maturity.
The Knowledge Of Christ
(v. 13b)
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Why are we
building the body of Christ? First, so we will be unified, and, second, so we
can increase in our knowledge of Christ.
Some
commentators insist that knowledge is only added to explain “faith,” and
offer a translation such as this: “Till we all come into the unity of the
faith, that is, the knowledge of the Son of God.” In that view, faith leads to knowledge
or is even synonymous with knowledge. While in a way that is true, it is
not what Paul is saying here. With the word and (kai) Paul clearly shows that knowledge is something additional in
Christian experience. Yes, we unify around “the faith,” but our knowledge of that faith is ever
going in fulness.
How vitally important knowledge is in the Christian life! The word knowledge is the Greek epignōsis. We examined this word way back in Ephesians 1:17 where Paul prayed that Christians would truly know God. The full meaning of this word is a personal knowledge that is full, thorough, precise, and correct. Why is knowledge so important? Because we need to know God fully and intimately. No, we will never know everything, but our knowledge is to be “full” in the sense of knowing what is necessary for Christian living, which is really an enormous amount of knowledge. Of, course, there is only one way of acquiring such knowledge and that is by a constant involvement with the Word of God. In that way our knowledge continues to grow. In other words, our knowledge can be full from moment to moment; we can right now know what God wants us to know, but tomorrow we will know more; so, each moment we are living in the full potential of our present knowledge.
This was,
more than anything else, the desire of the Apostle Paul. Back in our study of
Ephesians 1:17 we referred to Philippians 3:7-10 and encouraged the reader to
read that passage. We again refer to it, but I would like to quote Tyndale’s
literal and powerful translation from 1534 (adding verse 11):
But the things that were vantage unto me I counted loss for Christ’s sake. Yea I think all things but loss for that excellent knowledge’s sake of Christ Jesus my Lord. For whom I have counted all things loss, and do judge them but dung, that I might win Christ, and might be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law: But that which springeth of the faith which is in Christ. I mean the righteousness which cometh of God thorough faith in knowing him, and the virtue of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his passions, that I might be conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection from death.
What a
thought! No matter what “[ad]vantages” we might have, in comparison with
knowing Christ, it is all just “dung,” not “refuse” as in modern translations,
but the excrement of animals (skubalon).
And what is
the goal of this ever-advancing knowledge? It is unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. As one writer explains about the
word perfect, it
is a bone of contention in ecclesiastical circles. At the one extreme are those who bristle at the very mention of the term in a religious connection. At the other extreme are those who when they see the word “perfect” or “perfection” immediately assume that it refers to the crisis experience of entire sanctification. Both attitudes are mistaken.[6]
The Greek
is teleios, which is derived from telos, which in turn
“originally meant the turning point, hinge, the culminating point at which one
stage ends and another begins; later, the goal, the end.” Several things were
looked upon as being an end, or a goal, such as marriage, physical and
intellectual knowledge, and, of course, death. So, anything that has reached
its telos, its goal or end, is teleios, that is, “complete.”[7] So, within the context of the
following verse, where there is a direct contrast with being “children, tossed
to and fro,” the clear idea of perfect is “a complete mature adult.”
This is
further shown by the Greek behind man. As we saw back in 2:15, where
Christ has made Jew and Gentile a new man, the Greek is anēr, “a male person,”
rather anthropos, the word that speaks of man as a “species,”[8]
man as a race. Here, however, it’s just the opposite. Paul doesn’t speak of
mankind (anthropos), rather anēr. In ancient Greek, it spoke of an adult man,
a bridegroom, a warrior, and manliness.[9]
Paul’s meaning is clear: we are adults and should, therefore, act like it. As commentator Albert Barnes ably
puts it:
Unto a complete man. This figure is obvious. The apostle compares their condition then to a state of childhood. The perfect man here refers to the man grown up—the man of mature life. He says that Christ had appointed pastors and teachers that the infant church might be conducted to maturity, or become strong—like a man. He does not refer to the doctrine of sinless perfection, but to the state of manhood as compared with that of childhood-a state of strength, vigour, wisdom, when the full growth should be attained.
What, then, does “mature” mean? What is maturity? We hear the term often. We tell children to “act more mature,” pastors tell Christians that they need to be mature in their Christian walk, and so forth. But what is maturity? Our English word “mature” comes from the Latin matūrūs, ripe, mature, timely, and seasonable, so our English word means “having completed natural growth and development, full development.” As the old Latin expression puts it, mens sana in copore sano, “a sound mind in a sound body.” Our thoughts, attitudes, actions, speech, and all else are that of a mature adult.
So
what is spiritual maturity? It is to be fully developed in Christ, that
is, as our text puts it, unto
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The Greek behind stature (hēlikia) originally spoke of age,
life-span, height, and even size of body. It is used, for example, to
describe Zacchaeus, who was “little of stature” (Luke 19:3). Used metaphorically, as it is here,
and combined with the words measure and fulness, the idea is “the
measure of maturity in Christ, the measure of being dominated by Him and
possessing Christ-likeness of character.” We are to measure ourselves not by
the yardstick of society, or the ruler of some legalistic list of “do’s and
don’ts.” Rather we are to measure ourselves according to the gauge of the stature of Christ. In short, spiritual
maturity is Christ-likeness
of character. God wants the Church to be built in the image of Christ,
according to His stature.
The application of this principle
will embarrass us often. The next time we react wrongly in a situation, say
something we shouldn’t, do something we know we ought not, may we immediately
be reminded to ask, “Is that how my Lord would react? Is that what He would
say? Is that what he would do? Am I really being mature here?” Our answer will
reveal whether or not we have grown to His stature. Again, we will never measure up perfectly in this
life, but out failures will become fewer as we continue to grow.
Oh, may we
listen to the Apostle Paul! If this is not the Christian’s desire, then his (or
her) existence is truly meaningless. That might seem to be a strong statement,
but the fact remains that nothing has any meaning whatsoever without the
knowledge of Christ. This knowledge must be ever-continuing, ever-progressing.
Spiritual maturity, Christ-likeness of character, must ever be our end,
our goal. This leads right to a third principle.
Discernment (vs. 14)
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
To introduce the principle of discernment, think about this little story. The great Napoleon often told the tale of when he was visiting a certain province and came upon an old soldier with one severed arm. On his uniform he displayed the coveted Legion of Honor. “Where did you lose your arm?” Napoleon asked. “At Austerlitz, Sire,” came the soldier’s brisk reply. “And for that you received the Legion of Honor?” “Yes, Sire. It is but a small token to pay for the decoration.” Then the emperor said, “You must be the kind of man who regrets he did not lose both arms for his country.” “What then would have been my reward?” asked the one-armed man. “Then,” Napoleon replied, “I would have awarded you a double Legion of Honor.” With that the proud, old fighter drew his sword and immediately cut off his other arm. The story was circulated for years, until one day someone asked, “How?”[10]
Ponder further, sometimes we accept sayings simply because they are pithy, such as the Earl of Kent’s remark in Shakespeare’s King Lear, “The stars above us govern our conditions.”[11] This is just one of many references to that day’s common belief in Astrology. Other times we accept a proverb because it matches our own philosophy, such as Vince Lombardi’s famous declaration, “Winning’s not everything; it’s the only thing.”
People
accept such ideas and uncounted others simply because they lack discernment,
a word from the Latin discernere, which is comprised of dis,
“apart,” and cernere, “to sift.”
As we will see in detail, the Bible constantly, over and over again, emphasizes
this principle, to separate and distinguish between in order to see and
understand the difference. But far worse is how the lack of discernment has
marched into the church like a plague of Driver Ants consuming everything in
its path. Lost in the Church today is the ability to discern, to see the
difference between truth and error. And the few who do dare to discern are labeled
“unloving,” “divisive,” and “intolerant.” So what does Scripture say about
discernment?
Note first
our text: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Here is probably the most graphic
description in Scripture of the immature, unguided, undiscerning Christian.
As the words henceforth be no more indicate, they obviously had
previously been children, so the first thing Paul says is that this must
cease. There are several characteristics of children that apply to the
spiritually immature Christian.
First, children are ignorant. The
Greek for children is nēpios, which is a combination of nē (“not”) and epos (“word”),
so the literal idea is “one who cannot speak, that is, an infant.”
Metaphorically, it pictures one who is “unlearned, unenlightened, simple,
innocent,”[12] and even “foolish;” when the
ancient Greek philosophers wished to dismiss someone who was foolish in his
views, they would use nēpios with biting sarcasm.[13] Writing to Christians in Greek
society, Paul challenged the Corinthians, “When I was a child, I spake as a
child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man,
I put away childish things” (I Cor. 13:11).
This point
is, indeed, profound. After becoming a father, I often found myself thinking,
“This child ought to know something, but he doesn’t; we’ve got to teach
him everything.” And children will believe anything. They’ll believe there is a Santa Clause because
we tell them there is (which really
doesn’t say much for us, does it?). They’ll also try anything. They’ll try to see what small objects will fit into
an electrical outlet, they’ll run into the street, they’ll eat the family dog’s
food, and other things we wouldn’t believe unless we saw them. And that is
precisely Paul’s point. The immature Christian knows either nothing at all
or so little that he constantly gets himself into trouble.
Second, children are impulsive, they are tossed to and fro. This phrase is a singe word in the Greek, kludōnizomai, an old nautical term “meaning to be tossed by the waves.”[14] Children have a short attention span. They bounce from one thing to another. Babies will be drawn to a moving object one moment and a shiny one the next. Toddlers will play with a toy one moment and the box it came in the next. Immature Christians are the same, bouncing from one opinion to another, one teaching to another, with no discernment of which is better or even right. They’ll just grab onto anything and run with it. This leads to another characteristic.
Third, children are impressionable, they are carried about with every wind of
doctrine. Carried
about is peripherō, which pictures being carried
around in circles, that is, being directionless, just driven here and there
with no guidance. As Greek expositor John Eadie puts it, “The billow does not
swell and fall on the same spot, but it is carried about by the wind, driven
hither and thither before it—the sport of the tempest.”[15] It’s also significant that the
definite article (“the”) appears before doctrine in the Greek (tēs didaskalias)—“every wind of the doctrine”—showing that false teachers are
very deliberate; they don’t have a general doctrine, rather a definite,
calculated, and well formulated doctrine to teach. Most cults illustrate this
vividly; as wrong as the doctrine is, it is nonetheless systemized, organized,
and well devised. As a result, whatever the false teacher’s doctrine is, the
immature, undiscerning Christian is just carried along by it until the next
teaching blows in and carries him somewhere else. One pastor boldly asserts the
habits of the spiritually immature Christian when he writes:
There is a flightiness and instability to their lives . . . They dash in a dither toward every new religious fad, they seem more excited about the latest religious book than about the one Great Book, they rush from seminar to conference, hanging on to the words of the latest Christian guru, they change their spiritual and doctrinal mindset as often as they change their socks. With them, prophecy becomes a hobby, and spirituality becomes the latest craze.[16]
How true!
From the days of Bill Gothard’s “Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts” decades
ago to Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life” today, it’s been this fad, that
book, and this other movement, one after the other, year after year. The
picture painted by wind is also graphic. Just as the wind
surrounds us when it blows, so all kinds of teaching surround us. This demands,
therefore, that we discern its direction—we must examine where it comes from, what it carries, and where it’s headed.
Another
pastor, theologian, and professor tells of being at a denominational meeting
one day when a pastor rose and shared his heart about the evil results of
para-ecclesiastical movements. As is frequently true, parishioners, who often
know little of God’s truth, go to some large popular meeting, learn something
new and exciting, and return to their church and boldly announce that the
pastor is not doing things right. After all, the popular speaker has a huge
following, and the pastor only a little one. As this writer rightly observes,
“These popular movements violate every principle of church organization.”[17] Far worse, however, these tear
down the Local Church and undermine the leadership of such faithful shepherds.
Fourth and finally, children are indulgent.
If there is one thing that characterizes a child more than anything else, it’s
that he wants to play, he wants to be entertained, he wants to have fun, he is
self-absorbed. And that is not only true of the immature Christian today but
most of the Church as a whole. The seeker-sensitive movement has inevitably led
to entertainment as the driving forced of Church “ministry.” This started
decades with just children and youth ministries that kept the kids entertain,
but now it defines the whole Church.
There is literally every form of entertainment in the Church today that is
found in the world: all genres of music concerts, dramas, movies, standup
comedy, dances, sports, and even—I’m not making this up—gambling and strippers.
To raise money, one church in Surrey, England sponsored “Rodent Roulette,” in which they put a mouse in a box that has several holes in the sides of it, put a cup over the mouse, spin the box around a few times, take bets on which the hole the mouse will use to exit the box, and then release it.
Christianity Today once reported of an incident that took place in Richardson, Texas. On one Sunday, Pastor William Nichols of the First Unitarian Church invited Diana King, a Unitarian from Fort Worth, to take part in the service. She did, and when she was through, all that she was wearing was a G-string. The congregation of 200 adults and children watched in fascinated silence as Miss King—an exotic dancer at a Dallas nightspot—shed her clothes in time with recorded music. The pastor said that the dance fit “very well into our service” and nobody complained. He also said he didn’t think anyone was aroused, “but I don’t consider the erotic aspect of the dance wrong. After all, that’s the way we were conceived.” Miss King said it was something she wanted to do for a long time, and she would like to conduct classes for women church members. She commented, “I would like to do a sermon using the exotic dance, and members of the congregation could join me if they liked.”
At this point, many would say, “Oh, those are just isolated incidents in liberal churches.” Really? Consider Glide Memorial Methodist Church in San Francisco, a church that once preached the Gospel and was soundly evangelistic. Today it has this Call to Worship in its printed bulletin on Sunday and recited by the leader: “We are all of us Christians—Jews, liberals, Bolsheviks, anarchists, socialists, Communists, Keynesians, Democrats, Civil Righters, Beatniks, ministers, moderate Republicans, pacifists, teach-inners, doctors, scientists, professors, Latin Americans, New Africans, Common Marketers, even Mao Tse-Tung. Doubtless. From Lyndon Johnson to Mao Tse-Tung, we are all Christians.” Its services are performed in the mode of the modern dance. Participants gyrate suggestively, and the church has become a haven for dope addicts, homosexuals, and sex-pots.
Or how about one great New York City church that was originally built in honor of the great missionary to Burma, Adoniram Judson, but apostasy has closed in on this church, and from what goes on there it has no right to be called a church. They put on a show one Flag Day, a show supposedly “dedicated to the stars and stripes.” There were depraved and obscene exhibits, defiling the flag, and according to Max Geldman in the conservative political publication National Review, there were exhibits that were “simply unquotable.” The show was so offensive that the police closed it. On another occasion, the pews were removed to make room for dancing and the people sat in circles of folding chairs. The pulpit had been removed for a presentation of “Winnie the Pooh” and had not been replaced. The place where the choir used to be is vacant. On one Sunday a nude couple danced there during the service.
Yes, I
freely admit that those are extreme examples, but I also submit that philosophically they are no different than
any church today that resorts to entertainment in any form. So-called
“ministry” today is built on “giving people what they want,” “appealing to
felt-needs,” and “user-friendliness.” It is specifically geared to the flesh
and thrives in an atmosphere of spiritual immaturity.
But Paul
is not done yet! He adds that such false doctrine comes in three ways.
First, by the sleight of men. Here is a fascinating term. The word sleight is by far the best translation of the Greek kubeia, from kubos (English “cube”) and appears only here in the New Testament. The Greek literally means “playing dice” and the translation sleight graphically pictures the implication of the gambling, trickery, and fraud that is involved. We can picture this easily by thinking of how many people throw away billions of dollars on gambling. In 1946 the gangster Ben “Bugsy” Siegel opened the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, which was at first a disaster—nobody came to a hotel/casino in the middle of nowhere. The price tag that began at two million dollars swelled to six, for which Siegel was eventually murdered by his associates because they figured he was skimming money. The casino turned around, however, and made four million dollars in its first year, which grew to tens of billions to the present day, and all of it by kubos. The house edge in Roulette, for example, is 2.7% for single zero and 5.26% for double zero. The edge is even worse for other games, such as 4.5% for Sportsbook Betting, 3.9% to 15.2% for various slot machines, and an unbelievable 25% for Keno.
I was also reminded of the old scam, Three-Card Monte, in which the expert scam artist lays three cards on the table, one of which is a queen, shuffles them back and forth, and then asks you to “find the lady.” You’ll win at first, but when the bet increases, you will lose because of a sleight of hand trick. The dealer picks up two cards with his right hand, the upper card between his thumb and his forefinger and the lower card between his thumb and his middle finger, with a small gap between both cards. According to common sense, and, is in fact, what he did before, the dealer should drop the lower card first, but this time his forefinger smoothly and slyly ejects the upper card first, which causes you to lose track of the queen. This is especially difficult to see if the dealer’s hand makes a sweeping move from his left side to his right side while he drops the cards. The moral of the story is, you are going to lose.
That is the false teacher. By “slight of mouth” he tricks the unwary without their even knowing it because they are gullible and over-confident in their knowledge. Pride gets the Three Card Monte” victim every time; he’s confident he can follow the Queen, but he can’t because of the sleight of hand—the hand is quicker than the eye. Likewise, immature Christians are over-confident in their supposed knowledge and are easy prey for false teacher. This is precisely why Paul warned the Ephesian elders in Miletus that “grievous wolves [will] enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30).
Second, false doctrine comes by cunning
craftiness, which is one word in the Greek, panourgia, a compound
word from two roots, pan (“all”) and erg (“work”), yielding the
meaning “capable of all work,” or as Aristotle viewed it, “an unprincipled
[capability] to do anything.”[19] That is the false teacher. He will do anything, stoop to any level
needed to manipulate error, to make something look like truth and thereby lead
others away from truth. Paul also uses this word in II Corinthians 2:2, where
believers should “[renounce] the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in
craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the
truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” From
the Jehovah’s Witness—who deceitfully alters John 1:1 to read, “In [the]
beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god”[20]—to books like The Prayer of Jabez, which are based on a misrepresentation of
Scripture, men will do anything to make their teaching look like truth when it
is the very opposite.
Third, false doctrine comes by delusion
and deception (they lie in wait to deceive). The Greek behind lie in
wait methododeia (English “method”) does not appear in Greek
literature prior to the New Testament,[21] where it means “to investigate by
settled plan” or “a deliberate planning or system.” [22] There is,
therefore, a settled plan, an elaborate system, a deliberate scheme behind
those who teach false doctrine. Their desire to is to deceive, Paul
says, which translates planē,
“a wandering out of the right way” and, therefore, figuratively delusion and
error. I Thessalonians 2:10-11 speak of the lost multitude that will believe
the Antichrist, and for that very reason God will “send them strong delusion,
that they should believe a lie.” While that day is not yet here, delusion,
error, and seduction are everywhere.
What is
even more tragic is how many true believers there are who are gullible and will
believe virtually anything and follow almost anybody. Even with our unequaled
education, freedom, sophistication, access to God’s Word, Christian
books, and a multitude of Bible translations (which I am convinced is actually
part of the problem), it seems that anybody, no matter what he
teaches, can get a following and even financial support from not only
individual Christians entire Local Churches and even whole denominations,
associations, and fellowships. Like little children, they are captivated by something new: a new
interpretation, a new idea, a new catchy phrase or term, a new method of
“ministry,” and countless other things.
What,
then, is the key to discernment? There is only a single principle: what does the Word of God say? It doesn’t
matter if some new idea or teaching “sounds good,” but whether or not it’s
right according to Scripture. At the very heart of the Reformation was Sola Scriptura, that it is “Scripture
Alone” that dictates all we believe and practice, not Church Tradition, human
opinion, or anything else. For centuries Roman Catholicism has been adding its
traditions to Scripture, and even incorporating pagan practices (and even gods)
into its system, but Evangelicalism is not much better as it also adds men’s
teachings, methods, and ministries to Scripture. How we need a new Reformation
today!
Let’s
practice our discernment skills for a few moments. One popular speaker, for
example, gives this description of one whose “felt need” should be addressed:
You have a guy sitting in church and he’s figuring out, “Okay, how am I going to make payroll? how am I going to finance my lifestyle? I’ve got these two kids that are rebellious; they’re caught up in this lack of authority thing. My emotional connection with my wife is really running dry. I’m sitting with three strangers next to me listening to this sermon. I need some help for my life right now.” I believe that’s the way Jesus taught. I mean Jesus started at the point of the real and felt need that a person would have.
That
certainly sounds good, noble, and caring, but is it right according to
Scripture? No, it is not. The Lord
Jesus simply did not start with a person’s “felt need,” which has become
a term on which many churches are built today. In His dealing with the woman at
the well (Jn. 4:1-26), he very specifically confronted her with her sin and
then even taught her some doctrine on worship. He most certainly did not start
with a “felt need,” rather real sin.
Another
popular voice boldly says this:
People are always telling me that we should go back to the New Testament church where they were pure. Are you crazy? Where they loved each other. You’re out of your mind. Where they joined hands and walked off into the sunset together. That’s not the way it was. You haven’t taken the time to read the Bible. They were as bad as we are, and sometimes they were worse. And I get along better with people at the seminary than Paul got along with Barnabus.
This
sounds authoritative coming from the mouth of a well-know Bible teacher, but is
it right? No, it is not. In fact, it borderlines on
blasphemy. It is that man who has “not read the Bible,” for Luke records that
the early church
continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:42-47).
Were their
controversies and problems as the Church continued? Of course, there were, as
in Acts 6 and 15, as well as other mentions of doctrinal and practical issues,
as in most of I Corinthians. But these were exceptions to the general rule.
This man’s comment clearly implies that he knows a better way, that we can
actually improve on the Biblical record, and
that is heresy.
Here is
another quote, which is, in fact, one of the most common teachings of our day:
“The unity of the faith is more important than doctrinal opinion.” Again, this
sounds loving, but is it right? No,
it is not. As Paul told Titus, a
pastor of local church, the pastor has been entrusted with God’s word and is,
therefore, required to, “[Hold] fast the faithful word as he hath been
taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince
the gainsayers [i.e., refute those who oppose that doctrine]” (Tit. 1:7a, 9).
Unity is most certainly not more important than correct doctrine, no matter who
says anything to the contrary.
Another
speaker, who was shouting in a hateful tone, said this:
I refuse to argue any longer with any of you out there. Don’t even call me if you want to argue doctrine, if you want to straighten somebody out . . . Get out of my life. I don’t want to even talk to you or even hear you. I don’t want to see your ugly face. I say get out of God’s way, quit blocking God’s bridges. Or God’s going to shoot you if I don’t. Let Him sort out all this doctrinal doodoo. I don’t care about it.
Even if we
ignore the ranting and raving, is such teaching about doctrine right? No, it is not. I Timothy 4:16 could not be clearer: “Take heed unto thyself,
and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save
thyself, and them that hear thee.” Neither could Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word
of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou
not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
Still
another speaker explained doctrine this way:
I want you to know the word doctrine. Circle it. It happens to be the matter of, if you’re taking notes, the how you do the what you do. That’s what it means—doctrine, the way you do the what you do. Yea, there’s a certain way I get dressed, there’s a certain way you get dressed. Men, you put your socks on first and then your pants or you put your pants on first and then your socks. So, let me tell you something, depending upon how you dress, that happens to be your doctrine. The way you brush your teeth—do you squeeze the tube from the bottom, from the top, do you roll it? That would happen to be a matter of doctrine. You see, doctrine is just a word that describes your daily routine.
We
shouldn’t even have to ask if such a notion is Biblical because it is so
foolish, so childish, so contrary to even the simplest dictionary definition of
“doctrine” that it’s unbelievable that anyone would listen to man like that.
Another
well-known speaker counsels Christians with these sage words:
If you’re sure that you’re right, for God’s sake don’t correct those who are wrong. If you’re sure that you’re pure, for God’s sake don’t correct those who aren’t. If you’re sure that you’re got it together, for God’s sake don’t try to fix somebody who isn’t. From your position of righteousness and purity and balance, you’ll kill the church.
Yes, this
sounds loving and unifying, but is it true
Biblically? No, it is not. As Paul
declared to the Corinthians: “Do not ye judge them that are within [the
church]? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among
yourselves [i.e., the church] that wicked person” (I Cor. 5:12-13). And as he
likewise commanded Pastor Timothy, “As I besought thee to abide still at
Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they
teach no other doctrine” (I Tim. 1:3). He goes on to state in v. 5 that the
goal of such action is true, Biblical love.
To
illustrate, if I knew that a flashflood had washed out a bridge, would it be
loving and compassionate for me to stand by the railroad tracks smiling and
waving at the passengers on an Amtrak train as it hurtled toward the chasm? Of
course not. True love desires to warn people of coming doom.
Paul even
goes so far to mention by name those who were teaching false doctrine in
verses 18-20 (“Hymenaeus and Alexander”). Today such an act is considered
unloving and divisive, even if what they are teaching is hurting people and
destroying Biblical truth. Commenting on Paul’s challenge to Timothy in his
second letter to “preach the Word” and “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine” (II Tim. 4:2), theologian Gordon Clark writes:
Paul denounced heretics publicly by name. It is not enough to give diplomatic, spineless, uninformative warnings against unidentified errors. They must be clearly explained and clearly refuted. Some in the congregation may think refutation is useless and tedious. But Paul commands the preachers to persevere in their instruction with all patience.[23]
In spite
of that absolutely crystal clear truth, the Senior Pastor of a mega-church in
California writes: “How tragic it is when we become more concerned with being
‘right’ than being ‘loving.’ I would rather have the wrong facts and a right
attitude, than right facts and a wrong attitude.” That is not only childishly
foolish, but it contradicts Ephesians 4:15, where as we’ll study in depth, Paul
says we do BOTH: we speak the truth and we do so in love. One
without the other will always bring heresy.
Still
another teacher authoritatively declares:
[One] big lie is that God only wants three things from us; he wants “the three G’s:” He wants groveling, groaning, and He wants grieving; He wants us to cry and grieve over our sin. What a big lie.
While that
might certainly liberate us in our way of living our lives, is it Biblically true? No, it is not. As God declares in James 4:9-10, “Be afflicted, and mourn, and
weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up,” and in
Isaiah 66:2, “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a
contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”
Another
teacher characterizes God this way:
God is a God of grace. You can curse Him and disobey Him and spit in His face and reject Him, and you can do it over and over and over again, and He keeps coming back for more.[24]
Is such a
characterization of God biblical? No,
it is not. It flies in the face of
the Truth that “the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man”
(Gen. 3:6) and that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness”
(Rom. 1:18). But even more profound are God’s words in Hebrews 10:26-31:
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Another vivid example of the gullibility and undiscerning nature of Christianity today is the virtual cult that has arisen around the hugely popular book The Prayer of Jabez. As mentioned way back in our study of 1:3, one author’s indictment is right on the mark, calling this book “the most mesmerizing deception to be launched on American Christianity in the modern era.”[25] Why? Because the basic, underlying error of the book is “that the repetition of a prayer, any prayer, even a Biblical prayer, unlocks the power of God in our lives.”[26] The whole thrust of the book is that by repeating this obscure Old Testament prayer (a clear violation of the prohibition of “vain repletion” in Matt. 6:8), the Christian can unlock blessing and miracles. All it boils down to be is old prosperity teaching in a new wrapper, and to be blunt once more, it’s heresy plain and simple. Over and over again (ad infinitum, ad nauseam) the author promises prosperity and miracles with such statements as the following:
· “God wants [us] to be ‘selfish’ in [our] prayers. To ask for more and—and more again—from our Lord . . . [and is] exactly the kind of request our Father longs to hear” (although Scripture nowhere says any of that).
· “A guaranteed by-product” of saying the Jabez prayer will be that “your life will become marked by miracles” (but again, that’s not promised either in the so-called “Jabez Prayer” or anywhere else in Scripture).
· “Seeking God’s blessing is our ultimate act of worship” (but not one verse of Scripture says that; it is totally the author’s conjecture).[27]
And on we
could go. While this book is filled with warm anecdotes, personal experience,
and boundless conjecture, totally absent are solid theology, Scripture
exposition, and Divine Truth.
I also never cease to be amazed at how something novel, clever, pithy, and even shocking is received with glorious excitement by the Church today. An example of this is contained in another popular book, Desiring God, written by John Piper. While he does say some good things, his entire premise is based on his absolutely ridiculous term “Christian Hedonism.” What he means by this term is a call to abandon the short-term, low-yield pleasures of the world for the magnificent joys of knowing God in whom is fullness of joy, but to use the term “hedonism” is ludicrous. In Classical Greek, the term hēdonē (from which hedonism is derived) ultimately came to refer “to the pleasure of the senses, of sex, and then the unrestricted passions.” This meaning is clearly carried over into the New Testament, where the term appears only five times, all in “later books,” and always with “a bad connotation.”[28] The point here is why invent a term that you then have to spend several pages (or even a whole book) defending and explaining? Why not write a book on a Biblical term, such as the word JOY (chara)? Piper could have written his entire book based on that Biblical word and done it much more easily. Why not do so? Why pick a provocative and contradictory term that has nothing whatsoever to do with real joy? Is the reason simply cleverness and marketability or is it a misunderstanding of language? In either case, it misses the Truth.
It is because of such shallowness and faddishness in the Church today that I read far more of the older, tried and tested expositors than I do contemporary writers, though there are, of course, some good authors today. In this case, for example, the reader would be much better off reading 17th Century Puritan Stephen Charnock’s classic, The Existence and Attributes of God, which provides a lifetime of meditation.
Let me share one more discernment test. A well-known husband and wife team, whose desire is to reach millions for Christ, claim that an angel appeared to the woman and told her how to get instant decisions for Christ. For example, if you are talking to a waitress, you should ask her, “Do you know that there are two kinds of beautiful waitresses?” “Really?” she would probably respond. “Yes, those who are saved and those who are about to be. Which one are you?” I she says anything except, “I am saved,” then say, “Repeat this after me, ‘Father forgive me of my sins. Jesus come into my heart. Maker me the kind of person You want me t