Following Jesus to Unexpected Places: A Pharisee’s House

Posted on February 15, 2015 by parklinscomb

Of course on the one hand, Jesus might have been expected to enjoy the hospitality of religiously minded people. It seems like they would be natural friends and allies. On the other hand, almost anyone who knows much about the life of Jesus knows how often He criticized the Pharisees, and how bitterly they criticized Him for refusing to follow the traditions that they so highly revered. So, when Jesus accepted the invitation of Simon the Pharisee to dinner (Luke 7:36-50), it is a bit surprising; you just know that an aggressive religious discussion is about to break out. And who wants that?

Things start off poorly. The ordinary niceties of hospitality, the common demonstrations of respect for a guest, are completely overlooked. Not only was there no one to wash Jesus’ feet, there was not even a basin of water offered, so that Jesus could wash His own. No kiss of greeting (hand shaking) was offered. No oil for the head of the Guest was provided. All indications seem to be that Simon’s invitation was little more than a perfunctory religious obligation of hospitality to a traveling rabbi. But then…

A woman quietly came into Simon’s house, having heard that Jesus was there. She was a sinner, probably a prostitute, and she had heard that Jesus was dining at Simon’s. She doesn’t introduce herself to Him; she just weeps on His feet behind Him, enough that wiping the tears off His feet with her long hair seems to be enough to wash them. She kisses His feet, and then taking an alabaster vial of perfume she anoints them. And here’s where the aggressive religious discussion breaks out.

Simon doesn’t say a word, but he thinks to himself, If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner. But thoughts are as open to Jesus as speaking them out loud, so Jesus responds with a simple parable about appreciation—Luke 7:41, 42 “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” It was a simple question and Simon easily answered it—to his own detriment. Of course the one who was forgiven the most would love the most. Oops! Simon just ratted himself out.

There’s something for us to chew on here, too. The parable and its question were prompted by the drastic contrast of Simon’s lack of ordinary respect due a common human guest and the lavish and moving shows of love and respect given by the sinful woman. Jesus’ point was that Simon clearly appreciated Him little, while the woman clearly loved and appreciated Him much. Love and appreciation, as we all know, are always demonstrated by respect and acts of love. Simon didn’t realize how sinful and how much in need of forgiveness that he was; the woman, on the other hand, knew all too well how desperately she needed forgiveness of sin—and it showed.

Questions: 

  • Are you nearer to being like the woman or Simon?
  • Is your worship—is your Christianity—a minimal, perfunctory offer of service; or is it a loving, passionate, respect-filled, eagerly obedient outgrowth of appreciation?
  • Does our casualness, our lack of attentiveness, our minimalist offer of service in worship and discipleship betray something we’d like to deny? Perhaps, that we sometimes forget how much we’ve been forgiven and how much we still depend on His grace?
  • Have there been too few tears and too many ho-hums?
  • Has there been too little broken-heartedness and too much “I’ve got it covered”?
  • Has there been too little wiping Jesus’ feet with our hair and too much wiping our consciences with excuses?
  • Have you offered the Lord too many table scraps and not enough vials of perfume?

You see while we thought we were following Jesus into Simon’s house, we were actually following Him into a place of self-evaluation.

Surprise!

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Following Jesus into Places We Might Not Expect, Back to the Scriptures

Posted on January 29, 2015 by parklinscomb

We still sing “Anywhere With Jesus” in our hymnal and I’m thankful that we do. It’s a wonderful reminder of what discipleship has always supposed to have been about— following. It’s easy to forget these days, you know. In a world where truth has become relative and where Gospel and history rewrites are all too common, it can be a quick and all too easy trip to a discipleship of our own design. We need the reminder, whether by song or Scripture reading, that we are followers of Jesus, and that we need to follow Him wherever He went and wherever He goes. And for many of our day, where He went (and where He didn’t go) is sometimes kind of surprising. Over the next few weeks, with an occasional break, I’d like to look at where He went, with an encouragement to follow Him.

One of the surprising places that Jesus went was to the Scriptures. Now, you may think, “Of course, I knew that.” But let me show you where that went for Him and where it goes for us, too.

The Judaism of Jesus’ day, like today, was full of both Biblical instruction (called the Law) and rabbinic commentaries and commands (called the traditions). Rabbinic traditions had begun as far back as 500BC and held great authority among religious Jews. These traditions (Talmuds, Mishnahs, and Midrashes) we rabbinic judgments on how the Law of Moses (Torah) and the other writings should be understood, practiced, and obeyed. And as the scribes, lawyers, and rabbis discussed Biblical teachings and practices, it was common to hear them quote this rabbi or that rabbi—rather than the Law itself.

This is one of the things that separated Jesus from other religious leaders of His day, Matthew 7:28, 29 “When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.” Jesus taught on His own authority and quoted from the Scriptures, not from the commentaries or instructions of the rabbis. And it is what made Him odious to many of the religious establishment, He didn’t always play by the rules of “godliness” that they had fine tuned, and He didn’t tweaks that they had set up for the worship

This isn’t to say that Jesus lived totally “off the traditional script”. For example, John mentions in passing that Jesus attended the celebration of Chanukah (John 10:22ff), a traditional holiday, not a God-commanded holiday, that was only about 180 years old in Jesus’ day. He probably dressed like tradition required, washed His hands before eating like the rabbis prescribed, and kept to the traditional Sabbath day journey limits set by rabbinic oral law. But He wasn’t bound to it. Rather, He lived first by and pointed first to the higher authority of the word of God.

We could take the well-known temptations of Jesus in the wilderness as an example (Matthew 4:1ff; Mark 1:12ff; Luke 4:1ff). You’ll remember (or notice) that each time Jesus was tempted by Satan, He quoted the Scripture to be obeyed in that situation (Deut. 8:3; Deut. 6:16; and Deut. 6:13), not one word from the Talmud, Mishnah, or Midrash.

One wonders what He might have said and done, if He had. Perhaps He would have eaten bread made from stones, because one rabbi suggested that the ends could justify the means in extreme situations. Perhaps, we would have jumped from the pinnacle of the Temple, because one rabbi or another might have mentioned that the announcement of the Messiah to the world would be a much greater priority than the command not to test the Lord. Perhaps, Jesus might have bowed to Satan, in order to gain a great physical, political kingdom in the world, as many of the Jewish rabbis taught the Messiah would do, and many hoped for. The story would have been quite different, if He had.

But He didn’t. And this story along with the rest of Jesus’ examples throughout the Gospels stands as a powerful statement to His disciples of all ages. God’s word far exceeds in authority any human commentary, theology, feeling, teaching, study, scientific claim, philosophy, suggestion, loophole, intuition, or reasoning. Far exceeds them, even all combined!

As disciples, this is also where we must go, to God’s word. Few of us may be Jewish, but we still have plenty of traditions and commentaries. Many of them are harmless, some of them are helpful, and some of them are quite harmful; but none of them exceed the word of God. As someone who has engaged in plenty of religious discussions over the years, I feel the Lord’s frustration (Mark 3:5) sometimes, when the person with whom I am discussing religion starts quoting or citing a theologian, a commentary, a philosophy, or some demographic report. I used to be tempted to cite my own list of theologians and commentaries, but then I realized that doing so was nothing more than arguing against traditions with more traditions, opinions vs. opinions, he-said/she-said. It occurred to me that only one “word” was authoritative, and that it wasn’t Luther’s, Calvin’s, Barth’s, Graham’s, or “X” (name your poison). The only “word” that matters is God’s, the Bible.

Follow Jesus, right to the Scriptures.

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Old Testament Parallels, 
Moses (Exodus 3,4) and Reluctant Ambassadors

Posted on January 27, 2015 by parklinscomb

The story is familiar to most people who have even a modest knowledge of the Bible: the call of Moses at the burning bush. Moses the Israelite had been raised as an adopted child of privilege in the house of Pharaoh for 40 years, but he had run away from Egypt to escape justice for the crime of killing an Egyptian who had been beating an Israelite slave. His fugitive home had been the land of Midian for 40 years where he had become a humble herder of sheep—quite a demotion from being a prince of Egypt. Now, at 80 years old, God was calling him to be His ambassador to Pharaoh and tell him, “Let My people go!” Perhaps just as daunting, Moses was also to tell Israel that God had sent him to lead them out of Egypt to the land of promise.

But Moses was 80 years old. Though he had thought at 40 that he would be Israel’s savior (Acts 7:25), he had long ago abandoned that prideful illusion of glory, long ago stopped speaking Egyptian in everyday life, and long ago abandoned hope of being anything more than a humble sheep rancher far from “civilization”. So, rather than jump at the chance to be part of one of the greatest stories of the Bible and all history, he offered up excuses.

In many ways parallels to modern day excuses from being God’s ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20), priests (1 Peter 2:9), and sowers of the seed of good news (Matt. 13:3) to the world are remarkable.

“Who am I…?”
On the surface this sounds perfectly humble and proper to an invitation to do something great; but as an excuse to the God who commands that we speak His message to the world, it is neither humble nor proper. It ignores the fact that “Certainly I will be with you…”, and it amounts to a sort of deliberate faithlessness. God doesn’t give a command that He will simply “abandon us” to do; He would be with Moses and He will be with us, too. So, speak up whether you’re a prince or a pauper in this world. Just in case you were wondering, you are a child of the King, and you’ve got something to say! So, say it!

“…What shall I say?”
Again, we offer the same question/excuse today, hoping that our lack of a surefire persuasive speech will constitute a “pass” for us. God’s answer to Moses was a simple message of God’s concern for Israel, His promise to liberate them through Moses, that He’d bring them to Canaan with the wealth of Egypt, and a command to Pharaoh to let them go. There was no special approach or method given, no surefire “pitch”; it wasn’t complicated, just a simple message. The Gospel, likewise isn’t that complex: God loves you; you can be liberated through Jesus from sin and death; obey Him in faith, repentance, confession, and baptism; He’ll bring you to Heaven; and Satan will be defeated—the victory is assured. So, speak the simple Gospel and leave the rest to God.

“What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say?”
God tells us, just like He told Moses, that some wouldn’t believe—expect it. God’s answer to Moses was to give clear three compelling evidences that he was, in fact, speaking for God. While we aren’t give these sorts of miraculous signs, we are given numerous compelling evidences that Jesus does save and the Bible is the word of God such as the accuracy of the Bible, the resurrection of Christ. So, speak and share the evidences

“…for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
God’s answer: I, the maker of man’s mouth, will be with your mouth. Trust God in this. Jesus told His disciples, (Matthew 10:19) “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.” This excuse tends to come from the misconception that success of the message depends on us; it doesn’t (Rom. 1:16). Moses sought to dodge God’s commission by saying that Israel and Pharaoh would not listen to God, because he wouldn’t be eloquent. Truth be known, those converted through the eloquence of the speaker seldom make it faithful to the end—they’re often converted to the speaker. On the other hand, those converted to Jesus through the message of the Gospel—eloquent or not—often do remain faithful to the Lord. So, what does it matter, whether or not we are slow of speech and tongue? A message from the Lord is still a message from the Lord, even if spoken by someone who stutters. So, speak, slow or not.

“Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.”
Here, Moses was simply and directly “begging off”—and it seems to have been the most offensive thing that Moses said, because God got angry (Exo. 4:14). When God gives a command, He will not brook refusal or disobedience, and He will not accept excuses. In spite of all the excuses Moses gave, He still required Moses to be “His man”. He gave Moses Aaron to be a spokesman, but the command given to Moses stood. Likewise, we may wish the job of sharing the Gospel to others; but wishing won’t change the facts and giving us helpers won’t take away our personal responsibility—so, speak up, the job still belongs to us.

We can learn from Moses’ failure to do the Lord’s will. Let’s be the messengers that the Lord is calling us to be.

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The Reason for the Season

Posted on December 21, 2014 by parklinscomb

Well, Christmas is just about upon us. In many respects it is a wonderful, special time of year; but in other respects it is a source of controversy and cynicism. Which is it really? Let’s take a thoughtful look at from the Scripture’s and wisdom’s point of view.

Jesus’ Birthday?
Many of us (hopefully, all of us) know that no one really knows the birthdate of Jesus Christ. The traditional timing for the holiday (December 25, of course) is probably very wrong, since it is the least likely time of the year for shepherds and their flocks to be in the fields at night; the rainy season in Israel peaks in December and January. Jesus’ birth is far more likely to have been in late spring or summer, when it is warmer and drier and shepherds would indeed be in the fields at night. But the timing of the celebration isn’t really crucial, the event is.

Commanded or Not?
You will look from beginning to end—and back again—in the New Testament and not find a any sort of command to celebrate Jesus’ birth. The truth is that Christmas is a traditional celebration, not a command. Now, some may recoil at the word “tradition”, but before we write off the holiday, because it is only a tradition, let’s remember that Jesus Himself celebrated the tradition of Hanukkah (John 10:22,23), established in the intertestamental period to commemorate the purification of the Temple (164 BC) after the dark days of Antiochus Epiphanes. Tradition needs to be rejected only when it is equated to or contradicts Scripture, God’s word. And the celebration of the birth of the Savior does neither; therefore, we are free to do so and free to not do so.

Of course, the way that some celebrate Christmas does contradict Scripture (e.g., idolatry, debauchery), and in these cases the Christian must stand apart from the crowd. For some, this would reason enough not to celebrate Christmas; that’s their personal choice. For others, it is possible and even useful (see below) to jettison the bad and keep the good of Christmas.

Gift Giving?
Giving gifts at a time of celebration is common all over the world (e.g., birthdays, weddings, and holy days), and it is a major emphasis to many during the Christmas season. But while it is a time of giving (supposedly in imitation of the visit of Magi story), it mustn’t become the major focus. For some, Christmas is “the ecstasy of unbridled avarice” (to quote A Christmas Story); but for the Christian, it should be—it must be—much more. Give gifts; but major on the majors, not the minors—give your children something eternal, not just temporal.

Family Time?
We all love the precious time with family that Christmas usually brings, too, and that is good and right to do—we seem to get so little of it anymore. But even this good and wholesome reason is not really the true point of Christmas.

The Reason for the Season!
The true point is the wonderful birth of Jesus, the Christ. God’s promises of rescue and deliverance from sin and death were not going to be just pie-in-the-sky, not just vapor-ware (for you computer geeks out there), not unkept and neglected promises; they would be fulfilled. The defeat of Satan, the victory over evil, the beginning of the end of Eden’s curse was becoming physical reality.

And then there is the glorious miracle of His birth. I’m not just talking about the virgin birth, as amazing and mind-blowing as it was and is. No, I’m talking about God becoming flesh, about fitting the ocean of Deity into the thimble of a human body, about the descent of the Creator to become like the creation—so that He could…

  • walk not just a mile but a lifetime in our shoes
  • suffer pain like we do
  • get sick like we do
  • get tempted like we do
  • get physically tired like men
  • be limited as we are
  • leave a real life example like no one else ever did
  • suffer injustice as we do
  • be profoundly humiliated by other men as we sometimes are
  • die—excruciatingly, like none ever will
  • save us like no one else possibly could
  • and rise from the dead like we all will someday

And it is one of the two times of the year that many in our culture actually reflect on the spiritual and consider Jesus. That’s the reason that atheists want to take it out of the public view, and why Satan tries to make it all about the material stuff.

So, as far as Christmas goes: major on the majors, minor on the minors, reject what needs to be rejected, and whether you celebrate the tradition or not, don’t forget that it is a wonderful opportunity to share and talk about “the Reason for the season” with others.

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About Prophetesses

Posted on December 5, 2014 by parklinscomb

In a post a short while ago I spoke about women’s roles in the church. It generated some good questions, one of them was about the prophetesses of 1 Corinthians 11. The answer to this question deserves something more than a reply in the comment section and will probably be more lengthy than a reply ought to be. So, instead of answering it in the comments section, I thought I make it its own posting.

Now, having said that, I will offer the disclaimer that this topic has has entire volumes dedicated to trying to answer the questions about women leading in worship; and this post won’t come close to answering every question ever posed—though I hope it answers some. If you are interested in reading more about this issue, I recommend Women in the Church, A Fresh Analysis of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 by Kostenberger, Schreiner, and Baldwin, and Evangelical Feminism & Biblical Truth, by Grudem.

To begin this facet of the study, we should probably look at the other prophetesses of the Bible to see if we can pick up any examples, commands, principles, etc. from their stories. I found six reference in the Scriptures to prophetesses of the LORD (not including the 1 Cor. 11 passage)—there are two references to false prophetesses.

The Prophetess of the Bible

The first biblical references to a prophetess I found were to Miriam, Moses’ sister. Exodus 15:20 calls her a prophetess, and says, “Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing.” While she is called a prophetess here, her work seems to be specifically among the women. A second passage of interest regarding Miriam is when she and Aaron challenged Moses’ leadership and authority in Numbers 12:1-16—both claiming to be prophets equal with Moses. While the LORD was angry at both Aaron and Miriam, it was Miriam who was struck with leprosy; and the reason the LORD gave (v. 14) had to do with the shame of her attempt to usurp authority.

Judges 4:4ff tells us of another prophetess, Deborah, who was consulted by men (v. 5), but clearly she did not preach like Samuel, Elijah, or Isaiah. Nor did she exercise any authority over men. For example, when Barak was called to lead Israel’s army, he prevailed on a reluctant Deborah to come with them—“If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

Huldah (2 Kings 22:14 and 2 Chron. 34:22) was also a prophetess. She, like Deborah, was consulted by men for a word from the LORD after priests of king Josiah’s era rediscovered of the book of the Law in the Temple. And also Deborah she was not a preacher or proclaimer of God’s message.

Isaiah calls his wife a prophetess, though nothing is known about her ministry.

The fifth reference to a prophetess of God is found in the Gospel of Luke, the prophetess Anna, who at an advanced age never left the Temple. She saw Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in the court of the women (Mary and Anna would not be able to go any farther than this in the Temple), and recognized Jesus for who He is and “continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38)—contrasted to proclaiming or preaching.

Finally, there is a reference in Acts about Philip the Evangelist’s daughters who were prophetesses. Again, little is known about them apart from Acts 21:8, 9 “On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.”

OK, So What?

OK, so what data can we glean from these passages and what conclusions might we be able to draw from the data?

  • Prophetesses existed in both Old Testament and New Testament times
  • The prophetesses did not preach or proclaim their prophecies in an assembly
  • They were occasionally consulted by men
  • They spoke in small, informal settings, primarily among women (e.g., Anna).
  • They demurred at the offer of leadership
  • When one prophetess grasped for the exercise of authority (Miriam), she was specially punished for it by God Himself

How does the information from these examples help us understand what might have been going on among the prophetesses of 1 Cor. 11:1-16?

First, these examples show that there was precedent for women to prophesy among other women in either women-only assemblies or informal female gatherings. Could this not reasonably be the situation that Paul is addressing in his letter to the Corinthians?

Second, such leadership among men seemed to be eschewed by godly women, with the exception of Miriam, who bore the consequences of leprosy when she tried to gain leadership among God’s people.

Now Looking at the Context

In addition, a careful examination of the context 1 Cor. 11 will reveal that Paul’s instruction about women prophesying and praying isn’t really talking about what should be done when the church assembles anyway. The church’s assembly isn’t mentioned at all until v. 17—after the subject of women prophesying and praying is finished and he is changing topics to how the Lord’s Supper is to be conducted.

The main theme of the 1 Corinthians 11:1ff is about the appropriate submission of women to men. This submission, Paul says, should be shown by a godly woman in the Greek culture by the wearing of a covering on a woman’s head when she prophesies or prays. Given 1) examples and precedences from both Old and New Testaments and 2) commands forbidding women teaching or exercising authority in the mixed assembly; it’s easy to conclude that these prophetesses were 1) revealing God’s word among other women or in special consultation settings and 2) praying among other women.

Total Silence?

Now, does this mean that women must not utter a peep in the assembly? No. In 1 Cor. 14:34-36 and 1 Tim. 2:11-14 we notice that the command to be silent applies directly to teaching and exercising authority over men. When that principle is not being violated, it would follow that it is not necessary for women to be silent in things like congregational singing, or responding to a prayer with Amen.

Post Script

Someone told me recently, second-hand, that they thought that my first article was “pompous and condescending”. I was surprised, to say the least; and to my readers I would like to assure them that the attitudes that those words express were not part of my heart as I wrote them. My aim, solely, was to point out what the Scripture says about a clear biblical command that modern Christians, I believe, are being persuaded by the world to compromise. If you were one of those who took offense, please believe me that there was no offense intended; I only sought to humbly proclaim the truth of God’s word—as one who also has a role that involves submission.

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Getting “20/20 Foresight”

Posted on November 28, 2014 by parklinscomb

I’ve been listening to a class from Yale on the history of western civilization. It’s been interesting on a number of history-geek levels, but one thing that really has struck me has been how certain pivotal events in history didn’t seem like such watershed moments to the people who lived in those times. Their lives continued pretty much along the same trajectory (except, of course, for the people who were executed or killed in war). It was only in retrospect, sometimes a century or two down the line, when men would say that such and such an event was the beginning of the collapse of an empire or the beginning of an era, like the Dark Ages, for example.

Reflecting on that truth, I noticed in life how certain decisions, certain deeds, certain events in life often go unnoticed—life goes on along the same trajectory as before. We get pulled in by sin and afterward things don’t seem to be radically changed. Things continue to go on largely the same…for a while—leading us to believe that the sin we’ve committed really doesn’t have any big effect, no serious consequences. So, we do it again…and again—getting pulled in deeper and deeper. We don’t know that we’re veering off into the weeds until its too late.

Then we look back and realize what a watershed moment it was—years later. We call it “20/20 hindsight”, the realization that this or that decision, that turn to the left or the right, that word, or that deed was a crucial mistake that effected the rest of life, and sometimes eternity. And I noticed how we long for the wisdom, the ability, to see beyond the end of our noses and have “20/20 foresight”. It is the reason that movies like “Back to the Future” and others like it capture our attention; we all wish for a time machine to be able to undo the watershed deed and make a better future for ourselves, in the fashion of Marty McFly.

Interestingly enough, Christians have at their disposal, not a time machine, but a revelation from God who does indeed have “20/20 foresight”. God has been watching the human drama since day one with all of its errors, horrors, goofs, good intentions gone awry, and selfish evil; and in His grace He has given us a better way of living. It is a way of living that doesn’t end in grief, regret, or death.

In Scripture we get to see stories of real people who lived in situations not that different from our own. We receive commandments that will benefit us, despite being admittedly difficult sometimes—they are not “the path of least resistance”. We receive wisdom in places like Proverbs. We find philosophic reflections on the meaning of life in places like Ecclesiastes. We get the curtain pulled back on the spiritual back-story of some of the suffering we endure in Job. We find correction in the prophets, and a perfect example in the Gospels in the life of Jesus. And we even get personal counsel on how to change our minds, our hearts, our words, our attitudes, and ultimately our deeds—Paul calls it “newness of life”—in the letters to churches and individuals in the New Testament. We even get a glimpse forward to the final victory in the book of Revelation. It is nothing less than “20/20 foresight”.

And it applies to more than just individuals; it also applies to churches. In Scripture we’ve been given a pattern for the church to follow, and we’ve been warned against false doctrine and changes to God’s pattern. We’ve been given clear conclusions about the church following the Lord and the results of departing from His way, of holding to the pattern and of adding men’s traditions. We’re given examples in, for example, Revelation of churches whose love grew cold vs. those whose love remained faithful under all sorts of persecution, of churches who remained faithful in teaching and practice vs. those whose morals and doctrines were way off the mark. In Scripture are examples of what happens when the church compromises, absorbs the world’s ways, and caters to the whims and desires of who don’t want to be separate (2 Cor. 6:14ff).

The problem, as individuals and as churches, is that we often don’t believe God’s “foresight”. The world and Satan and even our own bodies tell us that God’s foresight may be alright for other people, other times, or other situations—but “I know what I’m doing”. And it will even look that way for a while.

Then “Boom”.

Maybe not today. Maybe not next week, or next month, or next year. Maybe not even in our lifetime (in some cases). But worldly wisdom, sin, always ends the same way. It always catches up with us.

The world can only use history, though it usually doesn’t, to predict outcomes. And even so, it often draws the wrong conclusions and still goes astray. That’s why it longs for time machines. But the Christian has a loving God who has seen the mess we’ve made, has given His Son to take away the guilt and consequences of our sins (if we’ll believe and obey), and gives us a new kind of life—one with “20/20 foresight”.

Read the Bible. Listen. Reflect. Heed. Obey.

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“…But what Does the Bible say about that?”—Leadership and Gender in the Church

Posted on November 25, 2014 by parklinscomb

Many in the religious world around us now include women in leadership of their churches—in both worship and day to day leadership. The world, of course, applauds this taking this path as an enlightened evolution of religion; but the world has a horrible record on enlightenment, “being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:18). So, faithful disciples must always ask, “What does the Bible, what does God, say?”

I’ve read over 100 arguments favoring women in Christian leadership: they range from a total denial that the Bible is telling the truth, to willfully neglecting the context of a verse (proof texting), to the old “everybody’s doing it” argument, to fancy-but-false interpretations of Bible verses engineered to wring a feminist teaching out of them, to an emotional “I want my daughter to be able to lead a prayer in the assembly”. But no human argument can ever trump the God-given truth in Scriptures on the subject, and none of them even come close to giving a sound alternate interpretation.

So, what does the Bible say? There are a number of texts we could study; but because I need to keep it short, let me stick with two important and clear Scriptures…

The first one is 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35. The context (1 Cor. 11:1—14:40) is Paul setting in order the worship assembly of the church in Corinth from a state of sin and confusion. In this context he says, “The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.”

There are five things that I’ll point out here for your fair consideration:

  1. women are forbidden to speak in the mixed assembly of the church (teach or ask questions)
  2. women are to submit themselves (allowing men to exercise the authority and leadership that God expects them to exercise in the church)
  3. there are other appropriate situations for women to ask questions and speak
  4. this arrangement of roles applies across both Old Testament and New Testament covenants (”just as the Law also says”)
  5. it is improper (or disgraceful) for a woman to speak in the assembly, in church.

The second Scripture is 1 Timothy 2:11-14, where Paul again says, “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” The context, again, is proper conduct in the gathering of the church for worship. The teaching is very similar to 1 Cor. 14; but Paul makes “silent” a little clearer, when he says, “…I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet…”. It is not merely teaching (or asking questions, see 1 Cor. 14) but exercising authority over the men of the church.

“But what about Galatians 3:28?” some would ask. This is a favorite verse of feminists. It says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” “Doesn’t this tell us that the differences between men and women has been erased in Christ?”

Like all biblical passages, a correct interpretation will fit the context, and the context of Galatians 3:28 doesn’t support a women-in-leadership interpretation. When we read the very next verse, Galatians 3:29 we see Paul’s point: “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” It is a promise—to women, who didn’t normally receive an inheritance; to Gentiles, who were told they had no inheritance with God’s people; and to slaves, who also had no inheritance in this world—that they are heirs of Abraham according to promise. Nothing less, nothing more. No teaching to support a doctrine of equal roles for men and women, just a teaching of equal inheritance for the faithful.

Rather, the teaching of the Bible, the word of God, is …

  1. men and women were alike created “very good” (Gen. 1:31)
  2. woman was taken directly from the man (Gen. 2:21,22)
  3. there are different roles for the genders that have their roots in both the creation order (Gen. 2:7 and 1 Tim. 2:13) and the Fall (Gen. 3:16 and 1 Tim. 2:14).

Conclusions? Male and female are equally valued, but they have separate roles that they have been given in this world. And there is nothing unequal about different roles; clearly, the Father and the Son have different roles, and the Son voluntarily submits to the Father, yet, they are equal (Philippians 2:6ff). And both women and men must respect and fulfill their respective roles, if we wish to be pleasing to God, who gives beauty and order to everything that obeys His command.

On the other hand, perhaps we should take warning from the mistakes of the angels “…who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,” (Jude 1:6).

We must not change the message, we must simply let the message change us.

Park Linscomb

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To God, the Things That Are God’s

Posted on November 21, 2014 by parklinscomb

“And He *said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ They *said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then He *said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.’” (Matthew 22:20, 21)

The story of the Pharisees testing Jesus with questions designed to put Him on the horns of a dilemma is a short but brilliant display of Jesus’ ability to thwart the evil intentions of His enemies. We cheer at the defeat of the scheming religious leaders, and we usually take away a lesson about the appropriate performance of duty to country—taxes, service, honor, etc. But what we often don’t walk away with is what duty we owe to God—the other half of Jesus’ response. “…Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” What exactly would some of those things be?

Loyalty, Allegiance

Every citizen of every country is expected to show loyalty to that country. Not every country has a formal pledge of allegiance, but every nation expects it from its citizens. Are you with them or with us? The Kingdom of God likewise expects loyalty, allegiance, and exclusivity of its citizens—especially since we are at war (you knew that, right?). As one inspirational essay puts it, “I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His and I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.…And when He does come for His own, He’ll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!” Are your colors, your allegiance, clear?

Exclusivity

And something else along this line, this loyalty is exclusive. Some nations allow dual citizenship—as long as you pay your taxes, they don’t care. But it is not so in the Kingdom of God. Our God’s name is “Jealous” (Ex. 34:14). He will tolerate no dalliance with another; we are exclusively His or we are not His—there’s no in between. Anything else is considered adultery (see Hosea). Are you God’s exclusively?

Love

Machiavelli in the The Prince says that a ruler exercises his authority over his citizens on the basis of either love or fear—mostly the later. Many of us pay taxes, not so much because we love the government but because we’re thinking we don’t want the IRS to come knocking on our door. But the Kingdom of God commands its multitudes of citizens primarily motivated by the powerful and intense love of those rescued from eternal condemnation. We love Him because of His truly “amazing” and profoundly undeserved grace (2 Cor. 5:14,21 and 1 John 4:19). Are you offering the Lord the love He is due?

Service

If it is genuine love that we have for the Lord, it will very naturally bear the fruit of service. This service is difficult to give to the invisible God, who needs nothing from us. Yes, we consider worship as service to the Lord—and so it is. But we’ve also been commanded to serve one another (1 Peter 4:10), serve the church (Eph. 4:12), serve the lost (Gal. 6:10). Because as we serve them, we serve the Lord (Matt. 25:40). Are you giving the Lord His due in service?

Obedience

Every nation and ruler expects its laws to be obeyed. There are penalties involved with ignoring or violating the law. Part of what Romans 13 commands is “subjection to governing authorities”—in other words, obey the laws. U.S. citizens don’t pay Russian taxes, and South Africans don’t abide by Bolivia’s traffic laws. But U.S. citizens are expected to live by U.S. law, Russians by Russian law, South Africans by South African law, and Bolivians by Bolivian law. What spiritual nation’s laws do you abide by?

Worship, Reverent Fear

The Kingdom of God is no ordinary nation. Its king sits eternal on His throne. His power far exceeds millions of nuclear bombs (He made billions of stars that are little more than huge nuclear reactors)! His full glory cannot be even seen by mortal men and is unimaginably awesome. His gifts and blessings are innumerable; His enormous daily generosity to both the good and sinful is incomprehensible. And His reign is so good. He is good, loving, just, faithful, holy, powerful, merciful, compassionate, wise, constant, and fair. Unlike mortal rulers He doesn’t seek to be served, but consistently and constantly serves with the best interests of His citizens at heart. Way far above all other beings, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are worthy of worship and reverent fear. Do you give Him the worship and reverent fear He deserves?

What we owe Uncle Sam has its proper place on the list of important things to pay attention to in this world as long as we are in it. It is due to Caesar (the government) not only because of the burden of responsibility, the protections that he provides us, and the duty of citizenship, but also if you don’t, you might get a visit from your friendly neighborhood IRS agent.

What we owe the Lord is so much greater and for much, much greater reasons.

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What Does It Mean to be Undenominational?

Posted on September 10, 2014 by parklinscomb

The churches of Christ advertise on most everything that we share with the community that we are “undenominational”. It is something unique that sets us apart from other religious groups, but sometimes it just becomes the wallpaper in the background that’s always there, even if we don’t know why anymore. So, what does it mean to be undenominational? And is this different than being “non-denominational”?

To understand, we’ll have to do a little light theology. The doctrine of denominationalism emerged from a well-meant but misdirected attempt to claim the unity in Christianity that Jesus expects (see John 17:20-23). Denominationalism declares that all religious groups claiming to follow Christ should be considered to be the one body of “the church of Christ”, and that the different religious groups are merely segments of it, identified by different names—denominated. The expectation of denominationalism is that all “churches” will simply agree to disagree on matters of doctrine and try to get along in a sort of divided “brotherhood”; or put another way, differences in beliefs should be ignored, and we should all just be friends. Religious groups under the umbrella of denominationalism found a way to claim “unity”, while staying divided. This is denominationalism.

On the surface it sounds great, but it is worldly wisdom to the core (see 1 Cor. 1:10-25). It is not the kind of unity that Jesus prayed for, being nothing more than a sad worldly union. Biblical unity reflects the unity enjoyed by the Father and Son (John 17:20-23), without doctrinal or moral differences. Any other definition of unity is—plainly put—“foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:10, 20).

Equally as sinful, denominationalism set the stage—it is the very foundation—for our current postmodern belief that truth doesn’t really matter. This was not a huge leap for many religious groups, who had elevated their traditions, creeds, and theologies to the level of God-breathed truth. Therefore, as each religious group decided to “agree to disagree” on their “truth” for the sake of “unity”, the whole idea that truth matters fell by the wayside. Ironically, denominationalism saw the valuing of truth as being the cause for divisions. So, truth was devalued and sacrificed on the altar of a false unity.

But what if we valued both truth and unity? What if, instead of valuing traditions, creeds, and theologies, we valued biblical truth alone? And what if we valued real biblical unity? What if every believer in Jesus simply agreed that there really should be only one church, the one described in the pages of the New Testament? What if we made the Bible the sole source of authority for truth, for doctrine, for morality, for direction in worship, for organization of the church, and for definitions? What if we refused to believe that our Creator can’t communicate with us in an understandable way? What if we realized that God never commands something that is impossible and took the command (1 Cor. 1:10) seriously? What if we refused to accept denominationalism as unity or anything like it? What would you call that? Perhaps “undenominational”.

The word “undenominational”, using the prefix “un-”, implies says that it is “not” denominational, that it stands opposed to the concept of denominationalism and any division of Christianity. And to be “undenominational” has been the plea that the churches of Christ have continued to make to our religious neighbors: to abandon denominational names, creeds, doctrines, traditions, and divisions (Col. 2:8); to seek authority for all Christian faith and practice from the Bible alone (2 Tim. 3:16, 17); to aspire to be and diligently work at becoming the one united body (Eph. 4:3-6) found in the New Testament.

To be “non-denominational”, on the other hand, simply means that the religious group in question has no alliances or identification with any of the named segments of Christendom—usually for the purposes of being able to appeal to a wide range of denominations. And while it is true that the Lord’s church makes an appeal to a wide range of religious groups, we want to and need to say, “We aren’t associated with either a Catholic or Protestant division.” We want to and need to say to the religious world that the divisions themselves are sinful; that we need to turn to the Bible for all religious authority; and that we need to (1 Corinthians 1:10) “… all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

The church of Christ (a biblical description, not a denominational name) is undenominational by God’s design. In the pages of the New Testament you will never find any directions for a Catholic or Protestant church, none for a denomination of any kind. Instead, one finds strong commands against division of the Lord’s church and against false teaching; and one finds strong commands for unity and for clinging to the truth.

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Who Are We, and What Are We About? (part 2)

Posted on August 31, 2014 by parklinscomb

In my last posting I reflected on an important question for the church (not just individual Christians) to think about: “Who are we and what are we about?” We looked at Scripture to get a glimpse of who the Bible says that we are in the eyes of God, which can be the start of some big changes. We are not a social club; we are not a philanthropic society (do-gooders), despite the fact that the world often sees us this way—and sadly, sometimes it is the way we see ourselves. Instead we are told that they Lord see us as the bride of Christ, the saved, the new Israel, priests of God, the body of Christ, and the family of God! Great kings sometimes have long lists of titles that boast of his glory and power, but they are only boasts. But the Lord’s church has a list of titles that are even more glorious, plus we have been given them by God Himself!

That being considered, then, let’s look at what we, this august group of people, are supposed to be about. What is our mission?

Evangelism—This essentially the sharing of the Good News, as commanded, commissioned, by Jesus in places like Matt. 28:18-20. This commission is effectively carried out by individual Christians, but it can and should also be carried out by a motivated, unified, focused effort of the church, too. This is why together we hold Gospel Meetings on occasion, together hold a VBS, together underwrite a web site with lots of good information on it, together sometimes have a Bring Your Neighbor Day, together fund the printing of brochures, together we hand our literature in neighborhoods, etc. And this commission for the church has even broader application, too, to sharing the Gospel at points outside of our community—sometimes in our own region, sometimes overseas—and so we contribute money sometimes, and sometimes contribute time and effort in short-term mission work. What are we about? We are about the supremely important work of telling the saving message of Jesus to the lost multitudes, near and far. There could be no nobler, no higher commission than this, which Jesus our Lord Himself also had as His supreme priority (Luke 19:10).

Teach and equip—Yet, there are other important commissions for the church, too, and teaching and equipping its members is one of them. The commission of Matt. 28:18-20 was to teach, baptize, and teach again. Learning is a crucial part of being a disciple, and to learn, teaching must be done. Leadership of the church is specifically charged with teaching and equipping the members of the church “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:13-16). And is not teaching opinion, traditions, theology, politics, philosophy, the latest fad, a discussion on the latest social trends, or feelings that will do this; it must be the word of God, the Bible. Therefore, together we have organized Bible classes that are not mere “Sunday schools”, together we teach the recently baptized the fundamentals of the faith, and together require a “thus saith the Lord” in all our preaching, teaching, and discussion. To remain faithful and obedient to the Lord, the Lord’s people must know what He has said. We have a commission to teach and equip.

Benevolence—Jesus often fed hungry multitudes, healed their sick, cast out demons, and while He always left people better off spiritually, He often also left them better off physically. The church, taking its cue from the Lord, was active in benevolence from its earliest days—many “…began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.” (Acts 2:45). And Paul urged the Galatian churches to continue to do the same, (Galatians 6:10) “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” It is a part of letting our light shine in a dark world. And therefore, we have an active pantry in which we together pool our resources to be able to help people in need, and together we offer a Give Away Day as a church to provide the community around us with things that they can use. The Lord continues even today to bless people with the material things that they need; sometimes it is through His great providence, but other times it is through His church as it fulfills this commission.

Worship—Beyond question, the Lord is worthy of worship and praise of His glory and grace. Paul wrote, (Ephesians 3:21) “to [God] be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” God can and should be glorified by the church in many ways, but one of the most obvious is in assembled worship (1 Cor. 14; Heb. 10:25,26; Acts 20:7; and many others). Its purpose is two-fold: to praise, thank, and glorify God, because He is worthy; and to build up, teach, strengthen, and encourage one another in our discipleship. And it should be done, not a as a perfunctory act, but as with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to the best of our ability.

Fellowship—Lastly, the church has a commission to build up, enrich, and bind closely the fellowship of the saved. Over and again we find New Testament commands to love one another, to heal any breaches in fellowship, to unite, to commune together, to work together, to suffer together, to rejoice together, and be fitted together as a body. This is, sadly, one of the church’s more neglected commissions sometimes, since we think that it will just naturally happen. But fellowship and unity are not natural. The divided world, divided families, and even splintered friendships stand as solemn witnesses of how unnatural real fellowship is; and how something as formal as a commission to fulfill is really needed.

Commissions are not options. They are definitions of our purpose and meaning as God’s people. They are high and holy callings that transform us into the very hands and heart of the Lord Himself. Let us live up not only to who God has said we are, but what He has commissioned us to do! To do so turned the world upside down once (Acts 17:6) and it can do it again. Let’s shake things up!

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