Dead Man Blogging

1 Corinthians 5
3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
…
11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Nowadays, Paul would probably get sued over this.

Or maybe someone would even sue Jesus?

Matthew 18:15-17
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
(emphasis added)

Is it any wonder more churches won’t practice discipline? The state needs to stay out of the church’s business. It looks to me like the pastor involved made a few mistakes, like trying to maintain a distinction between his secular counseling and being a pastor, and then sometimes the lines got blurred. I don’t know. The details of this specific case are much less important than the idea that the courts think they can intervene in church discipline.

This is the anti-public school resolution submitted to the SBC and rejected. I’m interested to know what my readers (both of you!) think of it. I am particularly interested in what you think of the “Whereas” clauses. Do you disagree with the fundamental points? Or simply disagree with the conclusion?

I have excerpted and emphasized the parts that are particularly compelling to me. Here is a link to the full resolution.

Whereas, the Bible commands that fathers are to bring up their children in the training and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4), and all parents have an obligation to strive by all means to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and

Whereas, all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Jesus, and He has commanded us to make disciples of our children and teach them to observe everything He has commanded (Mt. 28:19-20), and

Whereas, teaching our children everything that Jesus commanded involves their learning to think biblically about all the spheres of human thought, activity, and life (Dt. 6:4-9) so that they take every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), and

Whereas, our thinking is not to be conformed to this world’s way of thinking, but our minds are to be renewed and sanctified by the truth of God’s Word (Rom. 12:2; Jn. 17:17), and

Whereas, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Pr. 1:7) and in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3), any instruction that does not begin with the fear of the Lord, teaching the centrality of Jesus Christ for understanding all of life cannot properly be said to impart wisdom or knowledge to children, and

Whereas, Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters” (Lk. 11:23), the government school system that claims to be “neutral” with regard to Christ is actually anti-Christian, so that children taught in the government schools are receiving an anti-Christian education, and

Whereas, the government schools are by their own confession humanistic and secular in their instruction, the education offered by the government schools is officially Godless, and

…

Whereas, the Bible says, children are like arrows in the hand of a warrior (Ps. 127:3-5), we must understand that children are weapons (arrows) to be aimed for the greatest impact in the kingdom of God. Just as it would be foolish for the warrior to give his arrows to his enemies, it is foolish for Christians to give their children to be trained in schools run by the enemies of God, and

Whereas, training to be a faithful witness should be a vital part of a Christian child’s education, and

…

Whereas, the millions of children in government schools spend 7 hours a day, 180 days a year being taught that God is irrelevant to every area of life, and

Whereas, many Christian children in government schools are converted to an anti-Christian worldview rather than evangelizing their schoolmates, and

…

Whereas, the Bible teaches that the companion of fools will be destroyed (Pr. 13:20), and that people are prone to be deceived into thinking that evil company will not corrupt them (1Cor. 15:33), it is incumbent upon ministers of the gospel to warn God’s people that their children are being corrupted by spending half of their waking hours instructed by teachers who are required by law to inculcate a Godless education

I find the argument very compelling. Our government public schools are, by law and by design, thoroughly secular. By excluding God, they are implicitly teaching that He is irrelevant. Children spend 7 hours a day, 180 days a year, receiving an atheistic education. And further, many of the people who prepare the textbooks, the administrators who design the curriculum and plan the school day, and the teachers who do the actual teacher, are often not Christians. The Bible tells us that this makes them enemies of God, slaves of Satan, who do Satan’s will. Does it make _any_ sense to turn 5 year olds over to this system? Do we want slaves of Satan teaching a godless worldview to our children through lessons that simply ignore Him and present strictly natural and human causes behind history?

1 Corinithians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

This is the Biblical ideal of unity. Perfect unity (”no divisions among you”) _through_ perfect agreement (”speak the same thing … same mind … same judgment”).

This is not a suggestion. Paul urges it _”by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”_. There is no stronger authority to appeal to. The only way it could be stronger would be if Paul said “I command” instead of “I beseech”. This is serious stuff.

“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty” may sound nice, but it falls far short of the Biblical ideal.

So what do we do when we _don’t_ agree? May we separate? Should we separate? Must we separate?

Ephesians 4
1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
…
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 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:
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;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 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.

Divisions among Christians will generally be caused by interpersonal conflicts (including politics), or by spiritual matters (questions of orthodoxy and orthopraxy). God gives us a very simple solution for complex problems.

First, watch your spirit. You should be marked by lowliness, meekness, forebearance, and longsuffering. When it comes to interpersonal conflicts, there’s even more emphasis on your spirit (see v 31-32), but in all conflict, we should be patient and humble.

Second, we recognize that there is a “unity of the Spirit” and we should endeavor to maintain it. Peace and unity should be worked for. We should work hard to keep divisions out, either by keeping the differences out, or by keeping the differences from turning into divisions (if we can do that without compromising our loyalty to Christ). Our first reaction to a difference ought to be “how can we resolve this”, not “time to leave”.

And third, we must recognize just how unified we are. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, we are members of one body. Those things are just true. They are not goals, they are reality. Whatever differences and divisions may exist between other true believers and myself, there is one Lord, one faith, we are part of one Body.

These points don’t just make for an introduction. They provide the context for the particulars of how to heal or prevent divisions.

I’m only going to deal with the divisions caused by matters of faith and practice here. Interpersonal conflicts should be dealt with by a Biblical model of conflict resolution, hopefully terminating in repentance and forgiveness and restoration, or else in the church disfellowshipping / excommunicating the offender.

When it comes to divisions based on matters of faith and practice, we should recognize that _someone is wrong_. These differences are not matters to simply accomodate or “agree to disagree” about. They are to be _resolved_.

And this is why God graciously gives His church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers: to build up the saints, to bring us to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God. To get us to the point where we won’t be like 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. Instead of being so susceptible to deceit, trickery, and fine-sounding speeches, all of which are designed to lead us astray, we will speak the truth. And instead of pride and bitterness, we will sepak the truth in love.

Spiritual immaturity is the root of much division over matters of faith and practice. There are some questions, such as eschatology, where the Bible just isn’t all that clear. But those are not the issues that divide us. We are dividing today over simple matters - Can you trust the Bible? All of it? Are we sola scriptura? Is the Bible authoritative? Even when it says things we don’t like?

The SBC recently had problems with division because it dared to include a paraphrase of Eph 5:22-33 in its confession of faith. The Bible clearly teaches a wife to submit to her husband. If you refuse that teaching, it’s an indication that you don’t take the plain reading of the Bible to be authoritative over your life. The issue is not wives submitting to their husbands. The issue is the rejection of the plain reading of the Bible as authoritative.

The SBC also faced some criticism because the BFM now states that Christ’s death was a propitiation, an atonement for our sins. One Baptist Standard editor said that the BFM was ignoring “other understandings” of Christ’s death. If Christ’s death was not to atone for sins, we aren’t saved. These are not small issues.

The United Methodist Church recently had to decide whether or not to remove from the pastorate an open lesbian who “married” her partner. Now first of all, women are not qualified by God to be pastors. And unrepentant homosexuals are not saved. But because the UMC didn’t deal Biblically with those issues, it had to deal with this one. And the church jury _acquitted_ her. In clear defiance of church law. In clear defiance of the Bible. They acquitted her.

There was a recent division in some other group (don’t recall the name right now) over whether or not God actually _knows_, let alone _controls_, the future. The group refused to remove two heretical teachers.

The solution is for pastors and teachers to correct the beliefs of those who have gone astray. It is not for those who hold a Biblical view to compromise or agree to disagree. The church is not unified because the pastors and teachers are not doing their job according to Ephesians 4:11-15. This includes teaching right theology, but also teaching the right application of right theology. Such as the importance of disciplining false teachers or wayward Christians.

So what do we do when the appropriate pastors and teachers don’t fulfill their biblical responsibilities? When a church or denomination goes astray?

Romans 16
17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Titus 3
9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

The thing to note is that “them which cause divisions” are the ones who are pushing false teachings. They are delving into “foolish questions” and “contentions”. _They_ are the divisive men. We are not being divisive when we mark, avoid, and reject heretics. We are being obedient. _They_ are being divisive.

Our responsibility is to work to heal divisions over matters of faith and practice by searching the Scriptures. In the things that divide us today, most times the Bible is pretty clear, it’s just a question of whether we will accept it or not. If the erring party will not accept Biblical correction, _they_ are being divisive. Our responsibility is to mark, avoid, and reject them. This is not our first option, but our last, much like disfellowshipping / excommunicating a wayward brother is our last option. With all the errors at Corinth, Paul only commanded 1 man to be expelled, and did not encourage anyone to form a new church in Corinth. Fortunately, his first letter to Corinth seems to have straightened them out fairly well (he was fulfilling the commands of Ephesians 4:11-15, doing his duty as an apostle). So even Paul, the one who wrote all this stuff about being separate, was not quick to do so, and neither should we.

We do have a responsibility to separate from error, but we do not have a hard and fast rule on when to do so. “Not right off” is the only indication we have. And here is where it really comes down to spiritual maturity and judgment. Some people will leave. Others will stay and continue to work to correct the errors and bring back the unity. It’s important that neither group should criticize the other. What right do we have? You think the cause is lost, I think there is still hope. As long as you are not simply eager to divide, I cannot judge you. And as long as I am truly working for reformation and restoration, and not simply compromising and neglecting my duty, you cannot judge me. _Provided we both agree about the underlying error_, it’s just a difference of opinion on when we must separate. We are on the same side, fighting the same battle, against the same enemy, just from two different positions on the field.

The Christian Denomination Selector quiz is making the rounds. Here are my answers to the questions, and results:

The Questions

1. There is one God. Agree, High priority. If there isn’t, what am I wasting my time for?

2. God (Godhead) exists as three distinct Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Agree, High priority. This was settled a long time ago.

3. The Bible is free from error Agree, _Medium_ priority. This is such a nuanced issue. I believe in the plenary inspiration and divine preservation of scripture, and that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. But since it is a very complicated issue - what one person calls an “error”, another person might not, and we might all agree that the “error” is inconsequential in itself - I just put “Medium”.

4. Jesus is God and man Agree, High priority. If He isn’t, I’m not saved.

5. Jesus physically rose from the dead Agree, High priority. If He didn’t, He wasn’t God, and I’m going to hell.

6. One is saved by God’s Grace through faith in Jesus Christ Agree, High priority. If I’m saved by _anything_ else, I’m not saved. By grace are ye saved through faith.

7. One must be a member of a specific church/organization to be saved . Disagree, High priority. God saved me because of Christ’s atonement, not my good works - even of being in the right church.

8. Salvation can only be found through Jesus Christ Agree, High priority. There is no other name under heaven given whereby man must be saved.

9. God has predestined some to salvation and passes over others based only on His will Agree, _Medium_ priority. I believe it’s a clear Bible teaching, but I know that a few godly men who take the Bible seriously have come to other conclusions.

10. All will be saved Disagree, High priority. The Bible is clear that many will not be saved.

11. Once saved, always saved (Eternal Security) Agree, High priority. This is a function of the essential nature of salvation itself. I didn’t get myself saved, I don’t keep myself saved. I prefer the “Perseverance of the Saints” take on this, though.

12. Pacifism is important Disagree, _Low_ priority. The Bible says nothing that requires pacifism, but it’s not a big deal to me.

13. Water baptism should be practiced Agree, high priority. The Bible teaches it.

14. Infants can (or should) be baptized Disagree, _Low_ priority. I believe that only adult believers should be baptized, but I don’t have serious issues with the _Protestant_ paedobaptism position.

15. Baptism saves (or regenerates, or washes away sin) Disagree, High priority. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

16. Christ is physically present in communion No opinion, Low priority. I am somewhere between the “memorial only” view and Calvin’s view. I do not agree with the Lutheran or Roman Catholic view.

17. Infants can receive communion Disagree, Low priority. Since I do not believe in paedobaptism, it would be weird to support paedocommunion. But I’m not sure why one would baptize and infant but not give them communion.

18. Tradition plays a part in the church Agree, Medium priority. Tradition is valuable. Not worthless, and not _invaluable_, but valuable.

19. There a literal Heaven and Hell Agree, High priority. That’s the way the Bible presents it.

20. The preferred day of worship (or Sabbath) is Sunday Agree, High priority. This has been the practice of the New Testament church since the beginning.

21. People receive charismatic gifts today (tongues, prophesy) Disagree, Low priority. I do not believe the cessationist view has much scriptural support, but on the other hand, I do not see much historical support for charismatic gifts. They are generally practiced unscripturally, as far as I can tell, too.

22. A woman can serve as a pastor or a church minister Disagree, High priority. My issue is not with women pastors, but with the attitude one must take towards the Bible in order to support women as pastors. Scripture repeatedly forbids women from being pastors.

23. Infallible authority in faith is invested in a single person (or few/many people) Disagree, High priority. Unless that “single person” is God, but I don’t think that was the idea. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth, but I think we are the _custodians_ of the truth; we do not have any _infallible_ authority.

24. Only scripture should be used as a rule of faith Agree, Medium priority. I put “Medium” because tradition, creeds, commentaries, etc., are all very valuable. But they are not “a rule of faith”.

The Results

1 Reformed Baptist
2 Presbyterian Church in America/Orthodox Presbyterian Church
3 Reformed Churches
4 Southern Baptist
5 Presbyterian Church USA
6 Free Will Baptist
7 Assemblies of God
8 Mennonite Brethren
9 Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
10 Methodist/Weslyian Church
11 Church of Christ
12 Orthodox Quakerism
13 Evangelical Lutheran Church
14 International Church of Christ
15 Episcopal/Anglican Church
16 Seventh-Day Adventist
17 United Pentecostal Church
18 Eastern Orthodox Church
19 Roman Catholic Church
20 Jehovah’s Witness
21 Mormonism
22 Liberal Quakerism
23 Unitarian Universalism
24 Unity Church

Court Affirms Ban on School Bible Classes

Schools in Rhea County, Tennessee (near Chattanooga) have been teaching children the Bible. Citing the separation of church and state, the courts have ordered a halt to this 50 year old practice.

Maybe this will make it to the Supreme Court. It might be interesting to see what happens. We could certainly have some discussions over what is meant by the separation of church and state, whether these classes did (or even could) cross the line, whether there ought to be prayer in school, etc. But I don’t want to blog about that.

There is a phrase used by homeschoolers that you may have heard. We do not generally refer to “public schools”. We talk about “government schools”. It’s not an attempt to be cute. (Well, sometimes it is.) Above all, it is _accurate_.

These are not public schools. _Parks_ are public. Anyone can come to a park and do pretty much whatever. We can go to the park and pray if we want to. As long as you’re not hurting anybody, there aren’t many rules. You can come and go, or never go, as you please.

Schools are not like this. Schools are not “public”. They are _owned_ and, more importantly, _controlled_ by the government. The _federal_ government, as this case shows.

_Because_ the “public” schools are in fact _government_ schools - owned, ruled, and run by the government - the government can and does make any rule it pleases. The government can decide that _its_ schools will teach atheistic evolution. Mandatory sex education. Ban Bible classes and teacher-led prayer. Ban prayer at football games and graduations. Censor valedictory speeches. Have other government employees (CPS, for instance), meet with and question children _without the parents’ knowledge or consent_. Pretty much anything it wants. The government has this power because it owns and controls the schools.

It is not any particular abuse that contributes to my decision to homeschool my children. It is the power the government has over its own institutions and employees, and the consequent potential for many abuses.

_That_ is why we call them “government schools”.

I was listening to a sampler CD of The Basement Tapes that came with the Draught Horse Press catalog I got the other day. These guys are good. They make good points, full of plenty of wisecracks. One in particular cracked me up. It might not be entirely accurate or fair, but it’s very funny. I’ll paraphrase: “The broader evangelical movement seems to think that if we Christians just go around smiling a lot and don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, someone will come up to us and say ‘I’ve noticed you smile a lot and don’t take the Lord’s name in vain. Tell me about Jesus!’”