Complimentarianism: A Short Defense, Part 2

Although as some of you can see, I have quite another issue to deal with from my comments page for the previous post (and I will be getting to that very, very soon), I have nonetheless decided to continue with my defense of Qualified Male Leadership (QML)... for now.

I left off with noting how Christ Jesus, although equal to the Father, joyfully submits Himself to the will of the Father without diminishing His essential equality with Him, and how I believe that this provides a model for how the roles for men and women in the Church work. I believe that Christ also provides an example for the men in our churches and homes to learn from.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves his own flesh. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

(Ephesians 5:25-29 NKJV)

The husband is given the particular admonition to love and lead his wife in exactly the same way the Lord Jesus Christ does His church. How much did/does He love her? He died an excruciating, humiliating, and painful death on a Roman cross for her. And not only that, He bore God's infinite and eternal wrath and fury on her behalf for the sins of its members. This is a tall order to say the very least!

Further, Christ never hits His Church. He never ignores it. He is never an absentee husband. He never plays around with other "churches". He never just disappears for hours or days to hang out with His friends. He always cares for and protects the Church. He always has her on His mind; always doing what is best and most needful for her. Husbands, let's be that kind of husband and leader and our wives won't have much of a problem following our lead.

So what does all this have to do with church leadership? I'm glad you asked! This passage I believe establishes a pattern of male leadership in the home. According to Paul in 1 Timothy 3, having one's household in order is a prerequisite to being qualified to lead the church.

...if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?

(1 Timothy 3:5 NKJV)

It would be inconsistent of Paul to establish this qualification if male leadership were not clearly on his mind. Only the husband leads the family. A wife is not supposed to lead her family in this way (unless of course she is a single mother; but that is not the ideal situation), therefore, being consistent, she could never meet the qualifications to lead a church.

That being said however, that does not mean simply being a man qualifies you for church leadership. One must still meet the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3; Titus 1; and 1 Peter 5. As we shall see, some men don't meet them. I'm not sure I meet them yet, although I'm working on it.

Once again, I do hope I am coming off with having a loving spirit in all this.

Next time I'll post on the controversial 1 Timothy 2:12-15.

-Christian

Complimentarianism: A Short Defense, Part 1

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been confronted with, from more than one place, the idea of women in roles of leadership in the Church both pastoral or otherwise. It's no secret that the official position of the Association of Vineyard Churches USA is egalitarianism, or the view that women should not be held back from leadership positions in the Church. However, this is only on the translocal level. On the local level, that determination is left to the local church. But the egalitarian view is clearly the majority opinion in the Vineyard.

The other side of this question, and the position that I embrace and am now prepared to defend, is complimentarianism. In short, this view states that God created both men and women equally in His image, but assigned to each different, but complimentary roles in the family and in the Church. In other words, there are certain roles that only a man can fulfill, but that a woman compliments him in. Conversely, there are certain roles that only a woman can fulfill, but that a man compliments her in.

Before I move on I would like to state a few things. Firstly, I do hope that my statements are taken in the sense that I mean them. I do not wish to tear down, denigrate, or in any way hurt others in the Body of Christ, especially those with whom I disagree on this issue. It is not my intention to question the reality of any person's salvation, sincerity, or their love for our Lord Jesus Christ. I realize that this is a sensitive issue and will attempt to proceed accordingly.

Secondly, my statements are not meant to communicate any sort of chauvinism or mysogynism. I do not have some sort of sexist axe to grind. I honor womanhood and motherhood and would not be who I am today without either. I honor and love my own wife, mother, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, sister-in-law, and niece in my own family as well as the many friends I have who are female.

Thirdly, although I have the best of intentions and take great care, it is possible that I may none-the-less offend someone in the Body of Christ. It is also possible that I may also slip up and display some sort of immaturity or insensitivity. If such occurs, feel free to call me on it, in a Christ-like manner of course, and if I see it, I will immediately repent and apologize. This is a learning and growing experience for me too. I am still new at this.

Fourthly, I do this because I love the truth. I believe this issue is important and one that needs to be discussed. God has ordered the Church to function in a way consistent with His revelation in Scripture and I believe that the Scriptures do speak to this issue particularly. But I also know that the truth is to be spoken in love (Ephesians 4:15), so I endeavor to do exactly that.

The question before us that I intend to answer biblically is what does Scripture say about the role of women in the local church, specifically in regard to leadership? Historically the answer has been that only qualified men can and should fulfill this role. Recently however, the pendulum has swung the other direction, particularly in the Pentecostal/Charismatic/Third Wave traditions. Methodism, the Churches of the Nazarene and other offshoots of Wesleyanism were already ordaining women.

The Lutheran, Anglican, and Episcopalian traditions have followed suit I do believe. Many of the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Reformed varieties however have still held strongly to the traditional view of qualified male leadership.

Among those like myself who believe in the continuation of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit and in the ministries of signs and wonders/deliverance, the Qualified Male Leadership view (hence QML) is a distinct minority viewpoint (although Sovereign Grace Ministries and New Frontiers International are notable exceptions).

It would be tempting to start our discussion at 1 Timothy 2:12,13 but instead I want to start at Genesis 1:26,27.

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (NASB)

The reality of humanity as created in God's image is one of the central beliefs of the Christian faith. But what exactly does it mean to be created in God's image?

I believe that reflecting God back to Himself is what that means. In other words, we as human beings look like God. We sound like God. We smell like God. God created us almost like mirrors that He gazes at Himself in and finds pleasure in. At least that is what is supposed to happen. Sin has so damaged that image, that God really finds it repugnant and in order to restore that image to us, sends His only Son to die for us and be raised back to life for us. Christ's passion is designed to make human beings look like, sound like, and smell like God again for His glory.

Another basic Christian truth is the Trinity. Simply put, the Trinity is the belief that there is one, and only one, true and living God who is revealed as three distinct, but co-equal persons - The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. These three are one, and only one God.

So how do these basic truths of the Christian faith tie together to argue for the QML viewpoint? I'm glad you asked!

As human beings who reflect God back to Himself, we are called not only to reflect God's rulership over the universe, and His love and compassion to each other, but also to reflect His Trinitarian existence.

In the Trinity, although the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all equal in essence, there is still headship and submission. The Father exercises headship over the Son. The Son submits to the Father. Jesus said to His disciples once, "...The Father is greater than I" (John 14:28). Our Lord certainly did not mean that He was inferior to the Father as some cultists teach, but that in the Trinity, there is a pecking order if you will. Similarly, the Apostle Paul states: God is the head of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:3) The Father takes a leadership role in the Godhead while the Son submits to His Father's will.

Tying that in with our current discussion, I believe that the Scriptures indicate that in the home and in the church, God has set a pattern of male leadership to reflect His intra-trinitarian relationships (I do not believe that women should be held back from positions of authority or leadership outside the home or church. Women can hold positions of authority in the marketplace or government for example and all those under a woman's leadership are obliged to submit).

Consider again with me 1 Corinthians 11:3 in its context:

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. (NASB)

Paul, I believe, is laying out the divine pecking order. God [the Father] is over Christ. Christ is over man, and man (in this context, in the church's gathering) is over the woman. But, lest the man become arrogant, Paul reminds the men that every man (excepting Adam of course), came from a woman.

What I think is important as we consider this text as it relates to the issue at hand is that when we consider Christ's obedience to the Father, we always see Him joyfully submitting to His Father and lovingly carrying out the plan of God. He never considered that it might diminish His essential equality with God.

In the next part of this discussion, I'll deal more with how Christ is the model for both the male and female.

-Christian

Just Got Back From My First Vineyard Conference

I just got back on Thursday from just north of Atlanta, GA for the Vineyard Southeast Regional conference. It was an awesome time where so many good things happened. I rode up with one of the pastors, his wife and daughter, and the youth pastor. We drove up on Tuesday morning and got to the Atlanta Vineyard around 1:30 pm. I was able to stay at my pastor's son's home for the two nights we were there.

The speakers were Gary Best, the national director of the Vineyard in Canada, H.B. London of Focus on the Family, and Bert Waggoner, the national director of the AVC in the United States. I actually was able to meet both Gary Best and Bert Waggoner and even talked briefly with Waggoner about postmodernism, epistemology, and the emerging church. Those were some of the highlights. I also got a copy of John Wimber and Kevin Springer's Power Evangelism.

The pastor, his wife, and some members from the Vineyard in Inverness, Florida went up too and we had a good time fellowshipping with them. Also met some of the pastors from other Vineyards in the southeast.

One other highlight was when Gary Best encouraged us at the end of one of his talks about healing was to have everybody in the sanctuary who had never given words of knowledge about healing in such a big setting to stand up and...give a word of knowledge about healing. Well that included me and Gary went around the room asking us to share a word if we had received one. I shared that I thought someone had ligament damage in their left knee that should be prayed for. A girl stood up and myself and several others prayed for her and she got healed! The knee didn't hurt anymore and felt very good she said. Some might not look very highly on that but it was my first real experience at healing.

H.B. London's messages were about guarding your family life in mininstry. It really gets ugly when a minister lets himself get too busy ministering that he forgets his family and they pay the price.

Bert Waggoner's message was reaffirming what the Vineyard is all about...The Kingdom of God! He said something that I have said before - that dispensational theology and the Vineyard do not mix. Dispensationalism's view of the Kingdom is completely incompatible with what the Vineyard is all about. He stressed that some in the Vineyard needed to have a theological conversion.

He also spoke of how the Vineyard is a movement that stresses the Kingdom and not much else so there is room for diverse viewpoints on other issues. In other words, much to my chagrin, the Vineyard is not a reformed movement. On the other hand, it's not an arminian movement either, or an emergent movement or anything else. It's a Kingdom movement.

I also went to two church planting workshops. I've always been interested in it but it really got me thinking if I ever wanted to do that full time. I'm not sure yet.

Some points of concern though are in order. For example at the conference the book table was selling books by N.T. Wright. Wright is a champion of the New Perspective on Paul that I believe alters justification by faith and denies the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.

Also, some in the Vineyard are taking an emergent slant that makes me uncomfortable. Finally there was some laughter during one of the ministry times. Some time I'll blog on holy laughter.

Anyway, long story short, I really learned about some of the realities of ministry, more of what the Vineyard is all about, and more about how the Vineyard works as a whole movement. Praise God for what He did there.

Christian

His Exceedingly Great and Precious Promises

Last night in Katie and I's small group the subject of God's promises to us came up and it was an occasion to bring up some things that I have pondering lately. The essence of saving faith is in trusting Christ and Him alone for your salvation from sin and God's judgment. Trusting anything else, even Jesus plus something else is not saving faith, but is belief in a different gospel which will ultimately damn those who believe it (Galatians 1:8,9).

Trusting Christ means trusting that He will bring us into the Kingdom of God both now and in glory. It's trusting in God's goodness, love, faithfulness, grace, compassion, etc. toward you. You, if you believe in the Christ of Scripture, are one of God's dear children. He loves you (Eph. 3:14-21), He cares for you (1 Peter 5:8), He is Abba Father to you (Romans 8:15). He will give you mercy and grace to help you in your time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16), and He will ensure your perseverence in the faith and bring you into His eternal kingdom (Jeremiah 32:40, Hebrews 10:14, Revelation 21:1-22:5). And the list goes on.

All of these the Apostle Peter calls God's exceedingly great and precious promises...(2 Peter 1:4a NKJV). It's vital that we as believers grab a hold of these and bank all of our hope on them in Christ Jesus.

The people of Israel in the Old Testament unfortunately failed to do this in a key moment. You may remember that Israel was poised to enter the promised land and sent the 12 spies in for reconaissance. Ten came back and gave a bad report saying that it would be too hard and that ultimately, God could not be trusted. They may not have said that outright, but that was the attitude of their hearts.

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from every tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them"...And they returned from spying out the land after forty days...Then they told him, and said: "We went to the the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there..." And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out... (Numbers 13:1,2;25-28;32a NKJV)

And even though Joshua and Caleb encouraged the people to trust God and go, the majority won out and the children of Israel would wander in the desert for forty years until that generation died out (with the exceptions of Joshua and Caleb).

Israel failed to trust God's promises and goodness toward them and they paid the price. Interestingly, this generation of Israelites is put up as an example of unbelief that we should not follow(Hebrews 3:7-19).

Trusting God and His promises is not easy. Our flesh is continually trying to pull us away from God (Galatians 5:17). The deceitful promises of sin, and its passing pleasures that war against the soul (Hebrews 3:13; 11:25; 1 Peter 2:11) are continually around us. Yet we know that nothing will ever separate us from God's love (Romans 8:38,39), and that God will never let us be tempted beyond what we are able to bear (1 Cor. 10:13), and that God will ultimately see us through to the end, never letting us fall away(Jeremiah 32:40), and bringing us to eternal glory (Romans 8:30).

Trust in God's promises toward you in Christ Jesus today and pray that I will do the same.

-Christian

David's Broken Relationships, Part 2

Probably the most infamous example of a broken relationship in David’s life, maybe even more so than Saul, was David’s own son Absalom. This is a tragic story of a family literally torn apart by lust, revenge, murder, and rebellion. It begins with one of David’s other sons Amnon, who’s lust for and rape of his half-sister Tamar set into motion events that would ultimately lead to Absalom’s downfall:

After this Absalom the son of David had a lovely sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. (2 Samuel 13:1 NKJV)

Amnon’s cousin and friend Jonadab convinced Amnon to use trickery in luring Tamar into Amnon’s house so he could rape her:

So Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ’Please let my sister Tamar come and give me food, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’” (2 Samuel 13:5)

The ploy worked and Amnon got what he wanted from Tamar. Scripture then records that afterward, Amnon hated Tamar and sent her away (2 Samuel 13:15).

When Absalom heard about these things, he began to hate Amnon in his heart and eventually plotted revenge by setting a trap for him and killing him two years later.

And it came to pass, after two full years, that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal Hazor, which is near Ephraim; so Absalom invited all the king’s sons. Then Absalom came to the king and said, “Kindly note, your servant has sheepshearers; please, let the king and his servants go with your servant.”

But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let us not all go now, lest we be a burden to you.” Then he urged him, but he would not go; and he blessed him.

Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” But Absalom urged him; so he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.

Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, “Watch now, when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you ‘Strike Amnon!’ then kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant.”

So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and each one got on his mule and fled. (2 Samuel 13:23-29)

David got word of Absalom’s murder of Amnon and Absalom fled the country to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur (2 Samuel 13:37), and was there for three years.

However a turn of events would eventually bring Absalom back to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 14:1-24), although some time still followed until David finally forgave Absalom (2 Samuel 14:33). I suspect however that Absalom never forgave David. It is likely that had Joab not intervened, Absalom never would have returned to Jerusalem and Absalom may have known that.

Although on the surface it appeared that all was well, Absalom secretly began a conspiracy to overthrow David and take the kingship of Israel from him by force. The years of separation seemed to have taken their toll on their relationship. The cycle of unforgiveness and bitterness would destroy a young man and his family.

Absalom for four years turned Israel against David by promising that if he were king, he would be more fair in dealing with disputes (2 Samuel 15:2-7) and in that way he gained the support of the people. He convinced David’s counselor Ahithophel to join the conspiracy against David and along with the chariots, horses, and men he provided for himself, Absalom proclaimed himself king and marched on Jerusalem sending David and his men fleeing.

A turn of events in which spies from David undermined Absalom, would prove to be Absalom’s downfall. Although David wished that Absalom’s life be spared, Joab the commander of David’s army killed Absalom (2 Samuel 18:14,15).

David however still showed his heart by weeping for Absalom bitterly:

Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went; he said thus: “O my son Absalom- my son, my son Absalom- if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33 NKJV)

Despite the rebellion of Absalom and the attempt on his life, David still loved his son and longed to be reconciled.

Ahithophel as mentioned earlier, was also a Broken relationship for David. Imangine for a moment that your son hates you and tries to kill you and take what belongs to you. That would be unbearable in and of itself. But what if your friend with whom you had shared meals, and whose advice you prized sided with your rebellious son?

This was the situation David found himself in when his son Absalom proclaimed himself king and invaded Jerusalem. Absalom was assisted by David’s royal counselor Ahithophel. Scripture does not tell us what it was that caused Ahithophel to side with Absalom in trying to overthrow David, but regardless of the reason it left its mark on David.

Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. (Psalm 41:9 NKJV)

In this Psalm, David laments his friend and counselor turning against him and seeking his life. Although he entrusts himself to God, one can only imagine the kind of pain David felt as he thought of Ahithophel’s treason.

Ahithophel however would eventually kill himself apparently after Absalom overruled his advice and instead took the advice of Hushai, one of David's spies.

Now when Ahithophel saw that his advice was not followed, he saddled a donkey, and arose and went home to his house, to his city. Then he put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died; and he was buried in his father's tomb. (2 Samuel 17:23 NKJV)

As we might imagine, David saw his share of heartbreak and betrayal. I think that one of the biggest things we can get from these broken relationships is to note David’s unfailing trust in the Living God.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me. (Psalm 57:1,2 NKJV)

Particularly relevant is Psalm 3 which David composed while fleeing from Absalom.

LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, “There is no hope for him in God.” Selah.
But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the LORD with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill. Selah. (Psalm 3:1-4 NKJV)

Despite all of David’s troubles and despite all his failings, God never stopped loving David or delivering him when David needed him the most. O how great is God’s faithfulness to His children!

Clarifying Remarks on the Lakeland Revival

I was going to post part 2 of my study on David's broken relationships but I felt it would be a good idea instead to clarify and qualify some of my remarks on the revival in Lakeland.

First, I want to say that it is possible that Todd Bentley did not mean to suggest that believers are equal to Jesus in every way. However, I admit this only as a possibility.

Second, I wanted to state whatever Mr. Bentley's doctrine might be and whatever the state of his soul, that does not necessarily have any direct bearing on the actual manifestations happening there. My pastor for instance was healed of a gall bladder condition and I have no reason to think that he is lying to me or misinterpreting what happened.

All this means is that there is the possibility that people are legitimately getting healed and raised from the dead in Lakeland, but then again it's also possible that that is not the case.

Thirdly, I still want to stand by my remarks about the content of Todd Bentley's message that night. It was classic health and wealth. He did say something if I remember correctly wherein he tried to distance himself from it, but I remain unconvinced.

I left that meeting place knowing that in whatever ministry I eventually (Lord willing) fill, I must keep the Gospel in the forefront and pray for the miraculous to manifest itself in conjunction with that.

I still do not support the revival, but hopefully what I have said clarifies a few things.

-Christian

This is Really Good

Someone sent me this article from Christianity Today written by Tim Keller. This is easily one of the best things I've ever read on evangelism. Enjoy.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2008/002/9.74.html