Disciple-Makers or Demon Deacons?

I'm writing this post knowing that it's not an exciting issue for most people. But it actually is, if you love God's church, think it should be conformed to the instructions God gave us for church in the New Testament, and love seeing more people leading in his church (which equals growth of his church). 

First, it is not the goal of Providence Church to be a megachurch or to have bragging rights because we are the largest church in town. That's just vain. Our goal is to utilize our time and resources in order that through us God will make disciples of as many people as possible and have the largest impact on this world. That means it's more about quality (disciple-making) than quantity (converts or attendees). That's because real disciples are on mission and reproduce themselves. That said, we have for 10 years struggled to break the 1000-attendee barrier. It's not an uncommon thing, and it's not necessarily a bad thing (if we are planting churches and making, growing, and unleashing disciples). I am convinced that there is a correlation between the size of a disciple-making church and the impact it can have in this world. For many reasons (that I will not expound upon here) and in our context, I think that the "sweet spot" number is 1500 to 2000 people. There are some practical factors that can determine whether we grow that large, like: our building's size, our lack of parking space, our leadership structure, as well as our culture of inviting and welcoming and encouraging new people, and caring for those already in the family. These factors, and to a greater degree our struggle to grow, has caused our elders to pray and think and read and discuss solutions. 

Several things are obvious: 

1. We need more space. This can be accomplished in several ways: multiple services, different campuses, larger facilities (either by constructing more or moving to another location), or getting rid of people by planting new churches. NONE of these are easy. 

2. We need more, capable leaders. After all, we are in the people business. An essential ingredient to making disciples is disciple-makers. These should be raised up IN THE CHURCH, or we are not accomplishing our mission.

3. We need more resources. Specifically, money. Because there are many practical necessities for disciple-making and church planting. 

Let me deal with the first and last of these quickly: 

1) The space problem is real, especially regarding parking and children's ministry space. Yes, the auditorium is tight at times, but that's not our primary problem. We have and are trying to accommodate for this until we're able to plant a church and build more space.

3) As people grow more mature spiritually, they are obedient to God and give more. We have started classes to help people manage their money better, and we have significantly paid down our debt (I have not given up hope that we will retire it). This frees up significant amounts of money each month.

Also, growth in members also results in more giving.

That leaves number 2. How do we raise up leaders who are capable and accountable to, and passionate about making disciples and planting churches? We must be intentional about this. We recognized (again) the need for our current staff and leaders to raise up "replacements" for themselves and recruit and train more who will "own" the ministries of Providence. These leaders must be identified as equals to the staff (much the same way as our non-staff elders are equals to Jesse and me).

About a year ago, I read a book entitled, RetroChristianity: Reclaiming the Forgotten Faith by Michael J. Svigel. Unbeknownst to me, Jesse was reading it for a class about the same time. In the book, Svigel accurately describes the simple structure of the early church, consisting of elders AND deacons, that remained basically the same and allowed the church to grow exponentially for the first few centuries. That is, until the Roman Emperor became a Christian and the church exchanged the simple structure it began with for a much more complex structure that more resembled Roman society. Corruption and stunted growth followed, ushering in the dark ages.

Jesse wrote me an email early in 2016 dropping the idea of calling this new categorization of leaders, deacons. My first reaction to this suggestion was not positive. I've dealt with "demon" deacons before (and not the Wake Forest University variety)! It usually wasn't pleasant. Deacons tend to be winners of a church popularity contest vote who, instead of serving, become the Mayberry town council-type complainers and troublemakers—dividers, not disciple-makers. I re-read the scriptural passages about deacons, and read germane sections of RetroChristianity again. I realized that what Jesse had said was true: the only biblical name for the type of leaders we were wanting to establish is "deacon." 

After much discussion, Jesse and I made the case to the elders so that we could all pray together about this. After much more deliberation, we decided to put it before the church. Here is the white paper we wrote about the new (to us) office.

After much prayer, we presented to the church that we wanted to establish the office of deacon at Providence. Of course there was some pushback. We totally expected it. In fact, it was not as much or as fierce as we expected. And all was lovingly delivered. All those who struggled with establishing deacons at Providence had churched backgrounds where deacons were not defined and determined biblically. This had resulted in problems for the church. 

In addition to the white paper (which answers most questions), I answered a few emails and had additional conversations with people. For example, here is part of one email reply to a member who is (like me and many others in our church and area) from a Baptist background (I've hidden the name of the recipient). In addition to having some bad personal experiences with deacons in a traditional church, he was struggling with the idea of women deacons.

Hey brother,
I appreciate your email so much. I love you and I LOVE your commitment to the Bible. I assure you there will never be a day while our current elders are alive where we compromise the clear teaching of Scripture, and I hope we put measures in place for the future leaders of Providence to have the same commitment. I am thankful for you for lots of reasons, including because you are a convicted conservative, evangelical, protestant, Christian. SO AM I. Even though we are not affiliated with a denomination, we are certainly "baptistic" regarding doctrine. I'm proud of my Baptist heritage (well, most of it anyway :) )! Truth is, we from Baptist backgrounds must forget some of what we have been taught about deacons, and look to the Scriptures alone for the definition. While baptists get most things right, many of them miss the biblical role for deacons. That has everything to do with Baptist history in the United States.
In Baptist churches, deacons have over the centuries become "rulers" rather than "servants" as they were intended to be in the New Testament. Baptist churches in the USA usually began in small communities, in rural areas, or on the frontier, and hardly EVER had a full-time pastor when they began. Most of them had itinerate or "circuit" preachers who would alternate between 2 to 4 different small churches! Because there was a shortage of pastors/preachers/elders (they considered these terms to be synonymous) and didn't have a plurality of elders, the deacons operated as the ruling "board" of the church. If a church was able to grow enough, they would eventually celebrate the day that they could hire a full-time pastor. But the power vested in the deacon board never changed. That's why virtually all Baptist pastors have stories of having trouble with "the Deacon board" of their churches (I know you have experienced this!). The deacons had become a ruling board, rather than what the NT intended: a group of leading servants who served under the authority of the elders. Most conservative scholars agree that the word sometimes translated "wives" in 1Tim.3:11 should be translated "women" and refers to women deacons. I quoted John MacArthur in the "white paper" and I could bore you to tears with the many conservative commentaries and early church fathers who were convinced of this interpretation. Here's just one more from the great conservative Baptist Charles Haddon Spurgeon's favorite scholarly resource: Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible:"their wives" — rather, “the women,” that is, the deaconesses. For there is no reason that special rules should be laid down as to the wives of the deacons, and not also as to the wives of the bishops or overseers. Moreover, if the wives of the deacons were meant, there seems no reason for the omission of “their” (not in the Greek). Also the Greek for “even so” (the same as for “likewise,” 1 Timothy 3:8, and “in like manner,” 1 Timothy 2:9), denotes a transition to another class of persons. Further, there were doubtless deaconesses at Ephesus, such as Phoebe was at Cenchrea (Romans 16:1, “servant,” Greek, “deaconess”), yet no mention is made of them in this Epistle if not here; whereas, supposing them to be meant here, the third chapter embraces in due proportion all the persons in the service of the Church. Naturally after specifying the qualifications of the deacon, Paul passes to those of the kindred office, the deaconess. 

Trust me, there is not a single early church father of the first five centuries that disagrees with this interpretation. It was not until much later when it was translated or interpreted "wives of deacons." I know what you're thinking. "No conservative believes women can be deacons." I know! I have felt the same way! And I still do regarding churches where deacons [unbiblically] are rulers! Again, we want the office of deacon to be what the New Testament intends: servants. I think it is more important to bring our church in line with what the Bible really teaches than to hold to man-made tradition. Please know that there is no biblical case for women elders (who ARE the ruling body of the church) and that Providence will not compromise regarding the Bible's teaching. I give you my word on this. So unless we see something in the Bible that suggests that we should change our practice to conform better to the Bible, we will not change it. I am thankful that we have a men-led church. In most churches I know, most volunteer and leadership positions are filled by women. However, we actually have more men involved in all aspects of leadership (including traditionally woman-dominated positions, like children's ministry and worship) than any other church I know percentage-wise. That's due in part to our focus on men being the leaders God has called them to be. This is in no wise a put-down for women! God loves strong women and we want them to serve in the church in myriad ways.
Brother, the decision is not made yet. The elders are presenting the idea to the whole church so that we can all pray about it, study what God's Word says, and then vote on it. 
Sincerely,
Chad

There it is. Exciting stuff, right? I actually think so. We MUST raise up new leaders if we want to make more disciples and plant churches. I think God is trustworthy to build HIS church. As we conform it to the description given in the New Testament, we are trusting HIM to do so.

Women in Ministry?

Ok, I've jumped in with both feet! Oh well, since we've been reading the Bible chronologically as a church questions have arisen about God's opinion of women in the Old Testament. I'm dealing with it in a sermon, but don't have the time to address the myriad opinions regarding women in the church. I know this is a question that so many people ask, in fact, I probably send this article to someone once a month on average and have done so since writing it in 1999! Here it is for those who are interested:

Women in Ministry
“Do you believe that women should be in ministry?” This is a question that we have been asked many times in the past few years. The answer I give is an enthusiastic “Yes!” The Bible is clear on many issues pertaining to this question.

Men and women are equal in the sight of God
The first and most important truth for us to understand is that men and women have equal standing and importance in God’s sight. In Galatians 3:28, Paul under inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Just as God is no respecter of persons with regard to one’s race or social status, he shows no favoritism with regard to one’s sex. Think of how revolutionary this statement must have been to the often chauvinistic and exclusivist culture (both Jews and Greeks had a low view of women and slaves) of the first century who were the original readers of Paul’s letter! Spiritually speaking, we are completely equal before God. All he sees are highly valuable souls—not men or women—who have been washed by the atoning blood of Jesus and, therefore, are his adopted children.

What is ministry?
A lot of what follows in answering the question of women in ministry lies in how one defines ministry. We believe that ministry is the job of all God’s children. We are told that Christ “himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12). Since the word “saint” is used over 40 times in the New Testament as a synonym for believers, it is clear that the reason God gave some the role of pastor, teacher, evangelist, et. al., is to equip the believers so that they could do ministry. This is why we (and many others in the Evangelical community) say often, “every member is a minister,” regardless of one’s sex. There are a lot of women doing ministry in the New Testament. Evidently, women can teach men individually, as Priscilla seemingly did with her husband Aquila (Acts 18:26). And women apparently prophesied in a respectful way (1 Corinthians 11:5-6, Luke 2:36 speaks of Anna the prophetess). Women can evidently address both male and female believers (1 Corinthians 14:3). They are encouraged to teach women (Titus 2:3-4), children (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14), and take part in all other ministries! So what is ministry? It is “anything done for the cause of Christ” (Providence 101 notes, page 11). By this we should conclude that ministry, in the purest sense of the word, is for all Christians.

Women preachers?!
For some people, however, the word “ministry” has taken on a different meaning. “You know what I mean.” They might say, “Should a woman preach?” Again, I hate to split hairs over semantics, but the word “preach” in the New Testament simply means “to proclaim truth” and again, this is the job of all Christians as we see throughout the New Testament. Women preachers? You bet. In fact, if a believing woman is not proclaiming the truth of the gospel to others around her, she is not living the way Christ commanded; and the same applies to men.

God loves strong women
A common stereotype is that the Bible teaches that women must be puny, weak-willed, passive people that get run over all the time. Contrary to popular belief, God’s Word shows that throughout the ages God has chosen several women for epic tasks. Some notable examples include Deborah (Judges 4), who performed the duties of Judge over the nation of Israel; the women who were among the main followers of Jesus (they were the last present at the cross and the first to witness his resurrection); and the woman of excellence described in Proverbs 31 as an exceptionally disciplined, industrious, creative, strong, and godly person who deserved much praise.

Embracing God-given roles
“Okay Chad, you’re killing me. What I am trying to ask is, can a woman be a pastor?” Most of the time this is the real issue on the minds of those who are asking. Once again, it is what God’s Word has to say about this (and every) issue that really matters, and we would be wise to agree. In the Bible, we read a lot about roles. Anyone who has been through pre-marital counseling here at Providence knows how we stress the importance of husbands and wives embracing one another as equals, while also embracing God’s specific roles for them as husbands and wives. A married couple that does not embrace both equality and each other’s given roles will struggle to find fulfillment. The wife, who has been made by God to be female, and to possess certain traits specific to her femaleness, brings these essential elements to the union as “the two become one flesh” in marriage. She is different than the man in many respects, and this is a good thing. It is rather humorous that some in our day are just figuring this out and at great expense (e.g. a multi-million dollar government study in the 1990s cited by CNN concluded that “men and women really are different”)! I am glad God made us different, and gave us different roles. A mother’s compassion usually balances a man’s sternness in parenting. A wife’s gentleness and grace usually balances a husband’s lack of the same. Examples abound.

As key as it is to understand the God-given biblical roles with a man and his bride, the same is true with the church—the Bride of Christ. Just as a man’s selfless headship in the home is ordained in the Bible, so it is in the church. This in no way means that women must resign themselves to a lesser spiritual place—not at all—only a different functional role. This role can have myriad facets, but it does not include serving as a pastor/elder. Titus 1:5-9 reads, “…An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe…. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless…. Rather he must be hospitable…. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (emphasis added, see also 1 Timothy 3:1-7). There are simply no Scriptures that allude to women filling the office of pastor/elder/overseer, either prescriptively or descriptively. More than this, we are told in 1 Timothy 2:11-15 that men are the ones to occupy the office of teaching pastor because of the authority that is bequeathed to that position. To do otherwise, Paul illustrates, would violate the roles given to us from the time of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve.

What about the “s” word (submission)?
I sense the need at this point to deal generally with several other passages in the Bible that get a lot of bad press on the one hand; and can be abused when misapplied on the other. These are the passages that mention voluntary submission as a part of a woman’s role. This idea of submission is not some slap in the face, as some would have us believe. Even the Trinity is an illustration of equality of persons and differing roles. Jesus is fully equal to the Father in terms of his being, but he has voluntarily submitted to the Father’s leadership. This is not a contradiction, nor is it demeaning. In fact, as a result of Christ’s voluntary submission, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” (Philippians 2:9-11). There are many passages in the Bible that affirm the fact that only men are to serve as elders, that women are not to have ecclesiastical authority over men, and that men are to embrace the role of headship in the home (e.g. 1 Timothy 2:11-15; 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; Genesis 2:18; 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, 14:33b-36; Ephesians 5:22-24; 1 Peter 3:1-7). These and other passages make it clear that roles are important to God; not for the purpose of keeping a segment of people down—not at all. Rather, male and female roles play at least two very important parts in human institutions, from families to churches: 1) They give order; and 2) they paint a rich picture of some greater truths.

Order
Every human group (yes, even every grouping in the animal kingdom) will follow a certain practical semblance of order. Because our make-up and giftedness is so different, there are clear ways God has created males and females to operate with regard to one another. To reject this obvious natural truth would in itself bring about disorder. Countless studies and experts have observed devastating effects in our generation of rejecting God’s roles for men and women in the family, in society, and in the Body of Christ. Clearly, when we embrace the unique aspects of our given roles, the church functions in an orderly, efficient, and effective way.

Picturing some great truths
Paul says that the husband/wife relationship points to a great profundity: How Christ relates to his bride, the Church (see Ephesians 5:32). In some of the previously cited passages that deal with roles in the church, embracing given male or female roles as individuals illustrates this same loving, giving, trusting kind of relationship. Just being a part of a marriage where God-given roles are upheld gives a person great practical insight with regard to the way a Christian is to relate and respond to his or her God. If I resist God’s role for me in marriage, I will have trouble relating properly to God himself and his headship over me directly, as well as the authority of his Word regarding the way he intends for his church—the manifestation of the kingdom of God on earth—to be operated. This “profound mystery” is worth pondering.

Be liberated!
God knew exactly what he was doing when he created us either male or female. We each have a unique part to play in his kingdom. This is to be celebrated! Elisabeth Elliot once wrote, "true liberation...comes with humble submission to God's original design."* Real freedom comes when we realize God’s plan for us and find our ultimate fulfillment in pleasing him. Celebrate how God has made and gifted you! Thank him that there is a purpose that only you can fulfill (read Psalm 139 for more)!

Well, I hope this gave you some food for thought. As a dad of two girls, I teach them about the grandness of God's plan and the great purpose he had in making them females. I really believe that. As a dad of one son, I teach him about the great value of women and our great role of protector, provider, and sacrificial leader. God changes the world through people who are obedient and passionate for his glory. Regardless of their sex! His plan for us includes us embracing the unique opportunities we all possess. That's called "providence!"

*John Piper, What's the Difference? (Wheaton, IL: The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, 1989), p.3.

Is God Cruel and Sexist, or a Liberator?

If you're like me you sometimes scratch your head while reading parts of the Old Testament. In the last part of Numbers alone, we're confronted with Balaam, a pagan prophet-for-hire who apparently hears from God, seems to do what God said, and is saved by a talking donkey from God's angel who is poised to kill him with a sword! Then there are God's instructions for Israel to wipe out whole nations (like the Midianites in ch. 31). Curiously, when Israel's army only killed every adult male(!), Moses was angered that they didn't finish the job. So he ordered them to kill the non-virgin women and boys, allowing Israel to keep the "young girls" alive for themselves! Whoa! What's more? This is a harbinger of things to come as the Israelites cross the Jordan and conquer the Promised Land!

One interesting subject that keeps popping up is the way women are treated in the Old Testament. I've gotten a couple of emails about this. Why does it seem that God favors men over women? In Leviticus a woman was considered ceremonially "unclean" for 40 days after giving birth to a boy, but 80 days after a girl. What’s that all about? Now in Numbers women are not counted in the censuses and sometimes seem to be considered mere property! Those who seek to discredit the Bible and Christianity like to remind us of passages like these. Famed atheist Richard Dawkins often calls God "misogynistic," and feminists have accused him of sexism and patriarchy. Perhaps today--which is "International Women's Day"--I should address this criticism.

Actually, when understood in context, God is the equalizer and ultimate liberator of women--as seen most clearly in creation and in Christ. And when we’re reading that part of God’s dealing with Israel in the wilderness, OUR present-day context taints our reading. Don’t forget, women have had the right to vote for less than 100 years in the USA! We tend to see all things throughout history through the lens of our own culture. God was dealing with Israel according to their own social and cultural mores. Truth is, the Law was a vast improvement for the women of that day compared to what was the universal norm before. Women were truly considered slaves or perhaps sexual pets at times—in many non-Christian cultures, this is still the case today. It's sad but true. This chauvinism is the result of the fall and curse. Sin resulted in much evil and inequality. Sin unrestrained brings dog-eat-dog tyranny. Of course this is not what God intended.

Gen. 1:27 reads, "And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female he created them."

God created both in his image, and has a purpose for both. Then came the fall, then the curse, then humankind gave way to sin. That’s where injustice finds its origin. The Old Testament is, in many ways, an exposé of human failure and corruption. The Law (Exodus-Deuteronomy) is a vast improvement over what preceded it, and tempered sin’s effects.

Christ, of course, brought light and truth. He conquered sin. But first, he showed by example how women were to be treated. He, God Incarnate, came to us through a woman and placed women in prominent roles in his ministry; in fact, women were last at the cross and first at the tomb! We frequently recite a verse (Gal. 3:28) that we must remember as we read the Old Testament:

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

When Christ comes again, he will set all things right. I think that means absolute justice and the ultimate equality of all things! In fact, my hunch is that many will be surprised as Christ "exalts the humbled and humbles the exalted" (Matt. 23:12, Luke 14:11, 18:14) and find that many women will occupy the most exalted positions in heaven.

The whole issue of “women’s rights” is a hot political topic—including right now. It’s borderline insanity, I know, but I’m going to address this whole question on Sunday, including the issue of a woman’s role in society, family, and church. It’s going to be fun!!!

I’m reading a great book that Tony Walls (Providence Jefferson City Campus Pastor) turned me on to entitled, Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God by Paul Copan. It is an extremely good read. I only wish I would have read a book like this 25 years ago! I highly recommend it.