Category Archives: spurgeon
A History of the Church in 60 Minutes
Michael Reeves (UK) is a friend and the author of some really outstanding books like Delighting in the Trinity (2012) and The Unquenchable Flame (2010). I love chatting theology with him. Today he released a new message: “A Complete Church History,” which you can download here, or listen to here:
‘Death is dead! Death is dead!’
This morning in my Bible reading I read again the crazy plot to kill Lazarus (John 12:9-11):
When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
Threats of death to the resurrected?!
The story reminds me of a Ravi Zacharias sermon jam I found many years ago:
Have you ever wondered what you would do to frighten Lazarus after he’d been raised from the dead? What would you do to threaten him? “Lazarus, I’m gonna’ kill you?” Caligula says, “I’m going to kill you.” He says, “Ha, ha, ha.” He says “Stop ha, ha, ha-ing. I’m going to kill you as I’m killing all the Christians.” He doubles over in uncontrollable laughter, comes up for air and says, “Caligula haven’t you heard? Death is dead! Death is dead!”
How do you frighten somebody who has already been there and knows the one who’s going to let him out? …
Behind the debris of the fallings of our solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists lies the gigantic figure of one person, because of whom, by whom, in whom, and through whom, mankind may still survive. The person of Jesus Christ.
The Pastor and His Reading
Monday afternoon in Minneapolis I led a seminar at DG’s 2013 conference for pastors. My topic: The Pastor and His Reading: Why You Are the Key to Building a Church That Loves Books.
This seminar provided me the opportunity to review a basic theology of literacy (as I understand it), and to press a little deeper into the message of Lit! in three new areas.
First, I was able to press a little deeper into why I think literary pleasure is connected to Christ’s glory. There’s still much more work that needs to be done here, but I hope to have advanced the conversation by suggesting the revelation of Christ in the gospel brings with it a reorientation of all our affections around his truth, goodness, and beauty. Which means the glory of Christ brings with it a recalibration of the literary palate.
Second, I was able to look more closely at why and how Bible-centered pastors already inherently provide counter-cultural models of literacy for the men and women in their own churches. That’s not something I’ve pointed out very well in the past but hoped to accomplish in this seminar (with the goal of encouraging these faithful pastors).
Third, I was able to press deeper, think harder, and expand my list of practical suggestions for pastors to a list of 14. So many other things can be done to encourage literacy in our local churches. You’ll find this expanded list in the final pages of my notes.
I was honored to lead the session, enjoyed the questions and answer time, and came away deeply grateful for all the friends who attended. Anyone interested can download the seminar manuscript here (PDF).
Taxes and the Soul
Speaking of taxes, John Piper writes this in his book What Jesus Demands from the World:
It is risky for Jesus to say, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” That puts a high premium on obedience to the demands of Caesar. One of the realities that warrants this risk is that the heart of rebellion is more dangerous in us than the demands of Caesar outside of us. Jesus wants us to see that the danger to our soul from unjust, secular governments is nowhere near as great as the danger to our soul from the pride that kicks against submission. No mistreatment from Caesar or unjust law from Rome has ever sent anyone to hell. But pride and rebellion is what sends everyone to hell who doesn’t have a Savior. Therefore, the subordinate authorities of the world are warranted by God’s will in two senses. On the one hand, he wills that we recognize that these authorities are indeed subordinate and that we glorify him as the only supreme sovereign. On the other hand, he wills that we recognize these authorities as God-ordained and that we not proudly kick against what he has put in place.
My Favorite Books of 2012 on Writing
Each year I set aside the month of January to read (and re-read) great books on writing. And each year I discover one or two worthy new titles to add to my bowed shelf of books on the topic.
I suppose the thrill of discovering a new great book on writing is a feeling shared only by fellow wordsmiths. But it is sweet, no? I distinctly remember the bookstore where in 2006 I discovered Virginia Tufte’s magnificent book Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style. I return to her book every year to be inspired in the delicate art of sentence crafting. And I still remember the smell of the bookstore where I discovered Stanley Fish’s, How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One, in 2011. Like I said, finding great books on writing is memorable.
This past year I added four new impressive titles to my shelf, so I guess I’ll call them my favorite books of 2012 on writing:
- Jack Hart, Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction (University of Chicago)
- Douglas Wilson, Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life (Canon)
- Constance Hale, Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing (W. W. Norton)
- Verlyn Klinkenborg, Several Short Sentences About Writing (Knopf)
Joy For My Tormented, Heavy Heart
From Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s sermon preached on July 20, 1930, and later translated and published in his Works (10:575):
Rejoice always (1 Thess. 5:16). Are we to rejoice in the manner of that crowd of people we see searching for “gaiety” each evening in the great streets of Berlin? Certainly not; they are like moths that dance and flutter around the light at night until it burns them up. Christian joyfulness has nothing to do with such gaiety. Nor does Christian joyfulness have anything to do with some pleasant diversion after a gray workday. Everything we generally call joyfulness, even joyfulness that is not entirely illegitimate, is prompted by things that are transitory like everything else in the world, things that in their very transience take our joyfulness away from us when they pass away, leaving behind only melancholy recollection.
Where is all that joyfulness that our personal or professional life has brought us in pleasant hours? Irrevocably gone. Forget the past; beautiful as it may have been, it can never return again the way it was.
Today’s text, however, speaks about a happiness that abides, one that lasts a lifetime, one that does not dissipate when those happy times are over, one that endures because it has its foundation where there is no more growth or decline, namely, in the fatherly heart of God. Here you find anything but wild boisterousness and desire, which, after all, are merely the anxious grasping for things in this transitory world. Here we stand as whole persons before God the Father; our hearts are filled with a happiness never known before, a happiness that seeks to seize and change our lives from within. This joyfulness has only one enemy, namely, the care and sorrow that subjugate people to this world and make them fearful. A person should be joyful, not fearful, since above all that happens there is a heaven, an eternity, a Father.
But with my tormented, heavy heart, where does my joyfulness come from, where do I find it?
Go outside and see how children play and rejoice and are happy; see how the birds of the field fly high up to heaven and are joyous in the sun. Watch them, and then watch them again and again, and then rejoice with them, become like them, like a child that is joyous in its father’s garden. Above all, however, turn to him who loved the children and birds and flowers and who himself was a joyous child of his Father and who has become your redeemer: to Jesus Christ. In him the Father himself encounters you; in him God comes close to you, and in him one thus finds the foundation and source of all joyfulness. Rejoicing means enjoying God’s nearness in Christ Jesus.
Making Much of God
“God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives.” –John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, page 37. [Art by Karalee Reinke, colorization by Alex Medina.]
New Easter Post
This morning I posted a new Easter essay on the Desiring God blog: Our Tears Are Being Undone.
As many of you have probably already guessed, most of my blogging work will now be focused there. I am greatly honored to be a part of the incredible DG team here in Minneapolis, focusing my energy on helping to curate, resurface, and spread John Piper’s 30-years-and-running gospel preaching legacy.
[Hyperventilation.]
What that means is the Miscellanies blog (a little blog I started in 2006 to fill a ministry lag), will still be used but only for occasional posts, perhaps once a week or so. If you’d like to follow me, you can always do that more effectively via Twitter or Facebook. I’ll be using both of these channels concurrently to point to my work online, my travels, quotes and quips from mostly dead guys, and of course pictures of stuff I point my iPhone at.
Thank you for reading and following this blog. Because you come here, ministry opportunities have been opened for me (like book writing). So thank you!
Tony
Obey Your Pastors and Submit to Them
Few passages are more commonly misread, or simply avoided, than Hebrew 13:17:
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.
It shouldn’t surprise us that this passage often goes avoided. This is bound to happen in a culture where postmodernism rejects all claims of authority and where examples of abuses of authority are not hard to find in the news.
To make matters worse, a surface reading of this passage seems to sanction some form of authoritarianism, an unqualified obedience and submission to pastors in all matters. But that’s not the message of this passage, as we will see.
What follows are a few important thoughts on this passage, beginning with a closer look at the idea of “obeying.”
Here is how W. E. Vine defines the Greek word “obey” (πείθο):
In Hebrews 13:17, believers are commanded to obey their leaders. The word used is peithō which has the usual meaning of “convince” or “persuade.” The “obedience” suggested is not by submission to authority, but resulting from persuasion. Peithō and pisteuō, “to trust,” are closely related etymologically; the difference in meaning is that the former implies the obedience that is produced by the latter.
Peithō, “to persuade, to win over,” in the passive and middle voices, “to be persuaded, to listen to, to obey,” is so used with this meaning, in the middle voice, e.g., in Acts 5:36-37 (in v. 40, passive voice, “they agreed”); Rom. 2:8; Gal. 5:7; Heb. 13:17; Jas. 3:3.
The “obedience” suggested is not by submission to authority, but resulting from persuasion. Peithō and pisteuo, ‘to trust,’ are closely related etymologically; the difference in meaning is that the former implies the obedience that is produced by the latter.
In other words, when “one allows oneself to be convinced by someone: one follows and obeys him” (EDNT).
Paul Benware applies this point well in an article ["Leadership Authority in the Church," Conservative Theological Journal 3.8 (1989), pp. 10-12]:
The emphasis here [Heb. 13:17] is on an obedience that comes from being persuaded that something is true. In this case, it would be the truth of the Word of God that is in view. Here they are being called upon to persuade the people that follow them with the truth of the Word of God… The elders are not to say “Do it because I say so”, but rather “Do what I show you from God’s Word.” …
Leadership authority in the church, then, is the power granted to men to lead the flock of God according to the Word of God, guiding, protecting and feeding them for their benefit and God’s glory. This kind of leadership authority will persuade believers from the scriptures resulting in obedience and submission to Christ the one and only head of the church.
John Loftness, the senior pastor of Solid Rock Church [Sovereign Grace Ministries], recently explained this point in a helpful sermon. Here’s a transcribed excerpt from his sermon ["Hebrews 13" (11/20/11)]:
“Obey your leaders and submit to them” (Heb. 13:17a).
This translation is puzzling. The major 20th century English translations all translate this “obey your leaders.” Same with the KJV. But the word “obey” (πείθο) is different from the word that speaks of obedience. In fact if you look back to 5:9, there’s a different word used for obey: “And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey (ὑπακούω) him.” This is a different word.
[In 13:17] “obey” means to put confidence in, to trust, and by implication — because you trust someone or are confident in that person — you do what he says. It means to be persuaded. The same word is used in the next verse: “Pray for us, for we are sure (πείθο) that we have a clear conscience” (Heb. 13:18). The word translated “are sure” is the same as the one for “obey” [in 13:17]. So we should listen to our leaders, let them persuade us, let them speak God’s word to us, let them teach us so that we get such confidence in God’s word that we do what they say.
What kind of leaders should you listen to? Who are the kind of leaders you should submit to?
First, submit to those who are “keeping watch over your souls” (Heb. 13:17b). When they’re asking you to submit they are asking you to submit to God. I have no authority in your life apart from the clear teaching of Scripture. I can’t say, “I’m the senior pastor of this church. Ben, the car’s kinda dirty, can you wash it right away?” No, that’s not how it works. You want to follow a teacher whose concern is for your soul, who wants you to see and follow Jesus, and not stray into strange teachings (see Heb. 13:9). So there is an authority that your teachers carry but it’s authority grounded and founded in God’s Word. That’s the kind of teacher — he’s looking out for your soul and trying to make specific application of Scripture so that you will follow Jesus.
Second, you want to obey teachers who are aware that one day they will have to answer to Jesus for what they taught you. That’s what it says: “as those who will have to give an account” (Heb. 13:17c). I am deeply aware — and now that I’ve done this for decades — I’m aware of points where I’ve gotten it wrong, things I’ve missed. Why am I aware of that? Because one day I’m going to stand before Jesus Christ — just like you. But I’m not just going to have to answer for my own life, I will answer for my influence on you. I’m going to have to answer for how I taught you. If that was driven by selfishness and pride or laziness, unwilling to dig into the text to explain it accurately, I will stand before God and his judgment and I will give an account.
That’s the kind of leader you want to follow: someone whose first concern is your prosperity in God. And secondly, he’s aware that he will give an account for what he taught.
So this is not a call to do whatever your pastors tell you to do, it’s a call to submit to the teaching they bring you because it’s grounded in the Bible. A teacher’s function in the church is to bring you the Word of God so you can put your faith in Jesus and obey Him. And they should do this in a persuasive way, they should teach and lead so that you have confidence in the teaching. And then, submission becomes much easier, and it makes much more sense.
John Owen says much the same in his commentary on Hebrews 13:17:
1st. It is not a blind, implicit obedience and subjection, that is here prescribed. A pretence hereof hath been abused to the ruin of the souls of men: but there is nothing more contrary to the whole nature of gospel obedience, which is our “reasonable service;” and in particular, it is that which would frustrate all the rules and directions given unto believers in this epistle itself, as well as elsewhere, about all the duties that are required of them. For to what purpose are they used, if no more be required but that men give up themselves, by an implicit credulity, to obey the dictates of others?
2dly. It hath respect unto them in their office only. If those who suppose themselves in office do teach and enjoin things that belong not unto their office, there is no obedience due unto them by virtue of this command. So is it with the guides of the church of Rome, who, under a pretence of their office, give commands in secular things, no way belonging unto the ministry of the gospel.
3dly. It is their duty so to obey whilst they teach the things which the Lord Christ hath appointed them to teach; for unto them is their commission limited, Matt. 28:20: and to submit unto their rule whilst it is exercised in the name of Christ, according to his institution, and by the rule of the word, and not otherwise. When they depart from these, there is neither obedience nor submission due unto them.
Finally, Matthew Henry, in his old (and under-appreciated) commentary, offers this pointed one-sentence summary:
Christians must submit to be instructed by their ministers, and not think themselves too wise, too good, or too great, to learn from them; and, when they find that ministerial instructions are agreeable to the written word, they must obey them.
Ultimately pastoral ministry centers on Christ and His Message, not on the pastor and his role as messenger. And so to obey and submit to our pastors is a call to esteem and respect and obey the Word of God. This is why it can be said that “an elder with no Bible is an elder with no authority” (Mark Lauterbach).
Hebrews 13:17 is beautifully balanced and stabilizing for Christians who live in a culture suspicious of all authority. It encourages our biblical discernment. It encourages us to find a solid church where the Bible is taught clearly and persuasively. It moves our attention off autonomous human authority. It focuses our attention on the weightiness of Scripture. And it encourages humble submission of our lives to the faithful preaching and counsel we receive from our still-fallible pastors. It is a passage that helps us see the faithfully preached word for what it is — an authoritative message from God to be obeyed.
