What job titles should churches use? Does the Bible care?

One biblical principle and two rules can help us. The biblical principle:

The Bible establishes only TWO offices (see Phil. 1:1): elder and deacon.

And it ties character qualifications to each of these offices. Elder: 1 Tim. 3:1-7. Deacon: 1 Tim. 3:8-13.

Therefore...

"A friend was asking me the other day, ‘How can I be humble?’ He felt there was pride in him, and he wanted to know how to get rid of it. He seemed to think that I had some patent remedy and could tell him, ‘Do this, that, and the other and you will be humble.’ I said... 1/4 "'I have no method or technique. I can’t tell you to get down on your knees and believe in prayer because I know you will soon be proud of that. There’s only one way to be humble...

You know how, at the risk of some over-simplification, we say Christianity is the religion of "done" unlike every other religion which are religions of "do"? If we haven't thought through the implications of this for our political theology, we have more thinking to do. 1/10 So, too, with the fact that we say, "We believe in the Holy Spirit" and his regenerating work. What does this mean for our political theology?

Or we could sum all this up by asking, what does the new covenant mean for political theology?

Question from a pastor friend:

What would you say to someone who says that assembling as a church does not necessitate PHYSICAL proximity because we can assemble on a VIRTUAL platform without bodily being in the same room? (1/7) I’d offer four sets of questions in reply:
1) As a matter of ontology: is a virtual gathering THE EXACT SAME THING as physical gathering?

Just asked @DeepakReju for book recommendations for engagements, weddings, and marriages. He offered two on engagement, one on weddings, and three on marriage. Very helpful. They are: Start with this engagement devotional—31 days from Mike McKinley in Engagement: Preparing for Marriage. amazon.com/dp/1629954942/…

“Love is love” or “God is love”? A tale of two loves:

The phrase “love is love” must be one of the contemporary world’s greatest heists. It steals the Christian idea of love, which centers on God, and wraps it entirely around the self. 1/10 “Love is love” is a phrase that grammatically says nothing (like saying “a cow is a cow”), while serving to reaffirm what people already desire.

It is, in that way, dishonest. It hides an ideological and religious agenda—self-rule and self-worship.

A medium-length thread on the recent surge of interest in theonomy, the mission of the church, and a little bit of autobiography, for a Friday afternoon when no one is listening: 1/19 I started my graduate training in political theory waaaay back in the 90s, when the communitarian critique of Rawlsian liberal neutrality was talk of the town.

Tragically, grievance, real or imagined, makes us susceptible to legalism. How? As humans, we tend to make the hurts and sins committed against us central or all important to our way of viewing the world. 1/5 We begin to put our hope in systems of rules that oppose those hurts and sins, and we build out those systems elaborately. We use them to justify ourselves and others: "You're justifed if you keep my rules. I'll have nothing to do with you if not." And we tribalize accordingly.

@dukekwondc Hey brother, I trust we have much to discuss in person. And I hope we can next week. Yet let me state for the record, I was not commenting on you, your ministry, or even your argument for reparations. @dukekwondc I said: “DeYoung said he found the book problematic theologically. Kwon and Thompson replied that his so-called theological disagreements involved him in the political work of white supremacy, even if it was unwitting.”

Unexpected observation about churches in a nation with a benevolent dictator (UAE): Christians don't argue about politics. Basically at all. Pointless to do so.

Give me democracy not a dictator, but it’s worth meditating and what having political power does to our priorities. Analogy: it's better having money than not, but it's easy for money to distract us from kingdom work. So with the the political power we possess as citizens of a democracy with a vote and means of judicial redress.

An eleven-part two-handed thread:

On the one hand, Christians should care about God's purposes for genders, families, ethnicities, and nations. These common-grace groups nurture God-imagers and provide a platform for God's work of redemption. If I fight for the church, I must not do so while neglecting biblical concerns for gender, family, ethnicity, or nation. We hurt ourselves if we do, like cutting the branch you're sitting on.

First, here's a link to my conversation with @MarkDever and @blacey88 on plagiarizing sermons.

Second, here are 9 thoughts on plagiarism plus 4 replies to justifications for it that I’ve heard. (A thread). 9marks.org/pastors-talk/e… 1. You can have good intentions and still sin (see Lev. 4).

2. To preach another man’s sermon is to violate the eighth and ninth commandments, assuming you present the sermon as your own.

Years ago, Matt Schmucker and Mark Dever were brainstorming possible preachers for some occasion. I don’t remember which. Matt suggested this young talented guy in our church who was showing lots of promise. Mark said, “Not yet.” 1/6 Mark didn’t want to give this man too much platform too quickly, knowing how easily pride can ruin a ministry. He wanted to “sit” on the man for a few more years. I don’t know if Mark said “sit.” It was the word Matt used when recounting the story to me.

WEEK 6: Crossover music

By crossover, I mean genre-combining music. The genre-combining genre can be cringy, as my 13-year-old might say. Think 1980s Mannheim Steamroller. But there's some intelligent and winsome stuff, too. MONDAY: Jacques Loussier Trio

J. S. Bach + dinner party jazz = the Jacques Loussier Trio. Loussier has done jazz renditions of Vivaldi, Satie, Schuman and more. But I especially enjoy his albums on the master of counterpoint, Bach.

WEEK 4:
This week I will recommend several African artists I enjoy, though I should admit up front how shallow my knowledge is. Africa is huge--54 countries. And I struggled to come up with 5 artists I enjoy?! Still, one has to start somewhere, and I welcome recommendations. MONDAY:
I'm going to start this week with my favorite. Habib Koité from Mali has a number of albums, though I especially enjoy the first with his band Bamada, Muso Ko.

A post-Valentine's Day reflection:

Maybe this is stating the obvious, but with every passing year of marriage, I feel like learn or discover afresh: grace is the foundation of so much marital love. Not just attraction or the passion of the Song of Songs, though thank God for that. Not just natural compatibilities or shared enjoyments, though those are wonderful. Not just the earned partnership that comes from having endured tough adventures together, though it's sweet.

Counter-cultural recommendation for pastors learned from @MarkDever: when you're thinking about leaving your church for another opportunity (pastorate; overseas; etc), consider telling your church BEFORE you make the decision, not AFTER. Invite them to pray with you about it. A pastor friend recently did this. Asked the church to pray with him about moving overseas for a missionary opportunity. His church, though sad, felt blessed and loved to be involved in the process of praying and decision-making.

Sunday's piece from @DavidAFrench on the risks of over-identifying Christianity with a political party may provide a good conversation-starter for church elders to have. Some questions you and your fellow elders might discuss: (1/7) frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/the-cultural… 1) What problems come from letting ourselves be identified with a political party?

2) What steps can we as a church take to work against over-identification/subversion?

Three wrong postures for a Christian toward politics and one right posture:
1) The Jonah option--withdraw. Forget those nasty Ninevites. Flee to Tarshish.

2) The Judah option--capitulate. Make peace with the world for the sake of its silver. Probably the biggest temptation for evangelicals:
3) The Peter-with-a-sword-in-the-garden-of-Gethsemane option--utopianism/worldliness. We mean well, but give short-term political outcomes an outsized importance and fail to see the bigger realities at stake.

The idea of “human dignity” has become a bedrock principle in contemporary jurisprudence (see esp. Kennedy’s Obergefell opinion). Yet what happens when we do not ground our ideas about human dignity in God via the imago dei? Three things... (1/16) First, we will define “human” and “dignity” on our own secular terms.

Let me connect two conversations you may have never thought to connect: church polity and structural injustice.

(Haha! Only from a 9Marks guy, right?)

If you recognize the reality and relevance of one, you should be able to recognize that of the other. 1/7 For years, 9Marks has been teaching that church polity shapes individual Christian discipleship. Church polity teaches me that my Christianity is not about just me and Jesus. It means being a church member, which is to say, part of a family and body, with various duties. 2/7